The 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24) was held in Katowice, Poland on December 2-14, 2018. At the Conference, the Paris Agreement Work Programme (Paris Rulebook) was adopted to be implemented in 2020. The “Climate Action 100+” initiative, which is established with the aim of decreasing greenhouse gases, strengthening the transition to clean energy and climate finance and which has successful investment programmes in order to meet the Paris Agreement goals, uses the “Global Investors Driving Business Transition” slogan. The Asia Investor Group on Climate Change (AIGCC), Ceres, the Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC), the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) and the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) form the structure of this initiative.
The first list of 100 focus companies that cause two thirds of global industrial greenhouse gas emissions was determined in 2017 according to the data of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), which focuses on the long term welfare and aims to decrease the impacts of climate change and to protect the resources of the earth by changing the operation of the business world. These companies were selected on the basis of the Major Global Index (MCI ASWI) data, which represents 85 percent of globally investable equities. 33.5 percent of the focus companies is located in North America, while 34.8 percent is located in Europe. Among them, oil and gas corporations have 24.8 percent share, whereas the utilities and power production sector represents 19.3 percent. Member oil companies of the “Climate Action 100+” initiative include BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Imperial Oil, Lukoil, OMW, Repsol, Shell, Statoil, and Total.
During the COP24, Shell made a joint statement on December 3 with a group of institutional investors on behalf of “Climate Action 100+”. The company indicated that meeting the challenge of tackling climate change requires unprecedented collaboration and underlined the importance of the Paris Agreement. Shell said they are aiming to cut the company’s net carbon footprint by 20 percent until 2035, and by 50 percent until 2050 in order to meet the Paris Agreement goals.
Noting that they are taking major steps to turn short term targets into reality, achieving development and positioning themselves well, Shell has broken new ground in the world. Shell became the first international oil and gas company that set a goal to reduce its net carbon footprint in 2017. Likewise, Shell Turkey was the first petroleum company that won the SPCA 2017 Low Carbon Heroes Award. Designers of Shell’s logo were inspired from the blue nature and the sea. The first logo, which was designed in 1900, was a black-and-white mussel. It then transformed into a black-and-white scallop, and in the following years it became more symmetrical and gained its final colors and energetic form that represents the global stance of the company.
In the fight against climate change, Shell follows a path that fits its logo. The carbon management strategies of Shell and leading oil and gas companies are highly important for our blue planet; because wherever there is a hydrocarbon, there must be the best carbon management and producer responsibility.
