ANEEJ Faults Shell’s Emission Reduction Targets

The Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) has faulted Shell’s emission reduction targets, describing it as intensity-based rather than absolute.
The group said despite the need to gradually wind down oil and gas production globally, the oil company plans to continue to invest billions of dollars in upstream oil and gas, planning to reach over half of its business by 2030.
Executive Director of ANEEJ, Rev David Ugolor, speaking at an ongoing 2-day workshop on Climate Crisis and Energy Transition, regretted that Shell declared over £32billion profits in 2022, the highest profit in their history of about 115 years, while the people of the Niger Delta are living in misery and poverty.
Ugolor urged investors to vote against Shell’s strategy while urging the church of England and other faith-based organisations to stop lending moral and financial support to Shell and other multinational oil companies.
He further tasked investors to embark on a fact-finding mission in collaboration with civil society actors to ascertain the true situation of Shell’s operations in the Niger Delta, and urged Shell to go back to the drawing board and revise the 2021 energy transition strategy to align with Paris Agreement
“Reports show how quickly the world needs to move away from fossil fuels. There are also indications that the 1.5°C target in the Paris climate pact is already extremely hard to reach. Goal 13 of the 2030 Agenda emphasizes the need for urgent global actions to tackle climate change.
“However, analysis of the situation indicates that this target will probably not be achieved, even by 2030. We have studied the climate and energy strategy of Shell and other multinational oil companies; they fall short of what is required to achieve the Paris Agreement of limiting the increase in the average global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
“In fact, Shell’s emission reduction targets are intensity-based rather than absolute and despite the need to gradually wind down oil and gas production globally, the company plans to continue to invest billions of dollars in upstream oil and gas, planning to reach over half of its business by 2030. This will not support the global desire for a transition from fossil fuel to renewable energy”, he said.
Ugolor, represented by ANEEJ Board Member, Nowinta Igbotako, explained that the workshop was imperative to enhance the knowledge of participants including CSOs, journalists and community representatives on emerging issues in the global climate change trend and energy transition.
He further urged all stakeholders to join in the struggle to get Shell and other oil companies to take responsibility for the environmental degradation in the Niger Delta in line with the loss and damages discussions in COP27.
Also speaking, the Executive Director of Environmental Rights Action, Barr. Chima Williams, said the phrase ‘net zero’ was deceitful, saying that instead of net zero, the conversations should be on adaptability, remediation and energy transformation.