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Our sustainable development journey
Contributing to sustainable development has been part of our Business Principles since 1997. For us, this means helping to meet the world’s growing energy needs in economically, environmentally and socially responsible ways: running our operations responsibly today and helping to build a responsible energy system for tomorrow. Milestones in our SD journey are illustrated below.
Year | Highlight | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions target | Set target to reduce GHG emissions to 10% below 1990 levels by end 2002 |
| 2000 | Shell Foundation established | Endowed Shell Foundation with $250 million |
| 2001 | Social performance | Established Social Performance Management Unit |
| 2002 | ISO 14001 certification | Certified all major installations to ISO 14001 |
| 2002 | 2010 GHG target | Set target to keep GHG emissions at least 5% below 1990 levels by 2010, even as business grew |
| 2003 | Health target | Implemented a minimum health management standard across Shell |
| 2003 | Emissions trading | Made the first trade of carbon allowances under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme |
| 2003 | Continuous venting ended | Eliminated continuous venting of natural gas from all our oil production operations |
| 2003 | Embarq | The Shell Foundation set up Embarq to look for sustainable transport solutions for the developing world |
| 2004 | Diversity target | Set target to increase the proportion of women in senior management to a minimum of 20% |
| 2004 | Health standard | Met our target to fully implement our minimum health management standards |
| 2004 | HIV/AIDS guidelines | Piloted our HIV/AIDS guidelines in five countries |
| 2005 | Carbon trading | 30 Shell facilities participated in EU Emissions Trading Scheme covering more than a fifth of our worldwide emissions |
| 2005 | HSE Golden Rules | Launched three Golden Rules for Health, Safety and the Environment to raise awareness and increase personal accountability and compliance |
| 2006 | Refinery energy efficiency | Measures taken through Energise™ and Business Improvement Review process reduced GHG emissions by nearly 1 million tonnes annually a year and saved us more than $70 million annually at our refineries and chemicals plants |
| 2007 | Personal and process safety | Launched “Goal Zero” with employees and contractors to capture the belief that we can operate without fatalities or significant incidents. |
| 2006 | Social performance plans | Completed plans at all our major manufacturing and chemical facilities and upstream operations where social impacts could be high |
| 2008 | Fewer injuries | Injury rate down by approximately 50% since 1999 |
| 2008 | Continuous flaring effectively ended outside Nigeria | Flaring down 70% since 2001 |
| 2010 | Greenhouse gas emissions target due | Total GHG emissions to be 5% lower in 2010 than they were in 1990 |
Year | Highlight | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Renewables business established | Established renewable energy business with a commitment to invest US$ 0.5 billion over five years. |
| 2001 | Wind | Became a significant wind energy developer. An additional 100MW of wind energy generating capacity acquired in USA – globally 240MW capacity achieved. |
| 2003 | Hydrogen | World’s first Shell branded hydrogen station opened in Iceland. |
| 2003 | Solar | Began producing the most efficient thin-film solar panels commercially available. |
| 2004 | Biofuels | Iogen Energy - opens in a new window, partly owned by Shell, produced the first commercially available biofuel from straw (‘eco-ethanol’). |
| 2004 | Gas to liquids (GTL) | Signed agreement to develop gas reserves in Qatar and build the world’s largest plant to convert natural gas to transport fuel. |
| 2004 | Solar | Opened the world’s largest solar power station in Leipzig, Germany. |
| 2005 | Liquefied natural gas (LNG) | Largest equity share of LNG capacity among international oil companies. Production from this capacity provides enough LNG to supply more than 31 million homes with power. |
| 2006 | Research and development | Increased spending on research and development by 50% in 2006. |
| 2006 | Shell Fuel Economy Formula | Launched Shell Fuel Economy Formula petrol with blends of advanced additives and cleaning agents that can help improve drivers’ fuel efficiency by reducing energy loss in engines. |
| 2006 | Pavement | Introduced Shell WAM Foam Solution, which can be laid at lower temperatures than traditional asphalt to make roads, reducing CO2 emissions when asphalt is mixed. |
| 2006 | Solar | Completed our joint venture agreement with glassmaker Saint-Gobain to develop next generation Copper Indium Diselenide (CIS) thin-film technology. |
| 2007 | Climate change advocacy | Published Shell Energy Scenarios to 2050 and stepped up our advocacy efforts with governments, calling for an international cost of emitting CO2. |
| 2007 | Natural gas | Took operational control of the newly-opened Ormen Lange gas field off the Norwegian coast. The project will eventually provide enough gas to meet 20% of the UK’s needs. |
| 2007 | Biofuels | Decision made to quadruple our rate of investment in transport biofuels - opens in new window, particularly in those using more sustainable second-generation technologies. |
| 2007 | Shell FuelSave Challenge | Launched the Shell FuelSave Challenge in eight countries to help motorists and professional drivers improve their fuel economy through a combination of fuel-saving habits and Shell’s Fuel Economy products. |
| 2007 | Shell Eco-marathon | Held first Shell Eco-marathon Americas in California. The event challenges students to design, build and test vehicles that travel further using less energy. The Shell Eco-marathon started in France in 1985. |
| 2007 | Sulphur | Created Shell Sulphur Solutions to find profitable and environmentally friendly new ways to use sulphur removed from petrol and diesel. |
| 2008 | Carbon capture and storage (CCS) | CO2 storage pilot project (CO2SINK) at Ketzin in Germany became Europe’s (and our) first project to inject CO2 underground onshore. |
| 2008 | Coal gasification | Sold 26 licenses to use our coal gasification technology by the end of 2008, making us an industry leader. |
| 2008 | Biofuels | Increased our stake to 50% in advanced biofuels company Iogen Energy - opens in a new window - opens in new window. |
| 2008 | Wind | Increased our wind capacity by nearly a quarter to 550MW, enough to power nearly 250,000 households, as the 240MW Mount Storm onshore wind power project in the USA (50% Shell share) came into operation. |
| 2008 | Industrial lubricants | Launched Shell Tellusâ EE (Energy Efficiency) lubricant designed to increase the energy efficiency of hydraulic equipment. |
| 2008 | Pavement | Launched Shell Floraphalte, our first asphalt binder made almost entirely of plant-based ingredients. It can be mixed at lower temperatures than traditional asphalt, reducing energy use and CO2 emissions. |
| 2009 | LNG | Added around 5% to the world’s LNG capacity with production from Sakhalin II in Russia. By March 2009, we owned (directly or indirectly) approximately 9% of the world’s LNG capacity, enough to meet the natural gas needs of around 40 million households. |
Year | Highlight | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Shell General Business Principles revised to include sustainable development and human rights and a strict governance process introduced | |
| 1997 | Revised Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Policy and strengthened associated governance processes | |
| 1998 | First Shell Report published | |
| 1998 | Company-wide Global environmental standards introduce | |
| 1999 | Inclusion of carbon costs | Inclusion of carbon costs in financial project evaluation at $5/tonne, escalating to $20/tonne by 2008 |
| 2001 | Shell-wide Security standard introduced | |
| 2001 | Biodiversity standard and commitments introduced | |
| 2001 | Animal testing standard introduced | |
| 2001 | Diversity and inclusiveness standard introduced | |
| 2002 | Series of minimum health management standards introduced | |
| 2003 | Introduced commitment not to explore or drill for oil and gas in natural World Heritage Sites | |
| 2004 | Energy and carbon footprint | Provided details of the energy and CO2 emissions from the production, refining and final use of the energy products we produce |
| 2004 | Performance appraisal and pay | Included sustainable development to the Shell Scorecard used in determining bonuses. It counts for 20%. |
| 2004 | SD learning programme launched | |
| 2005 | External review committee | Introduced committee of external experts to evaluate the balance, completeness and responsiveness of The Shell Sustainability Report |
| 2005 | Project Academy Launched | |
| 2005 | Sustainable development in business processes | Strengthened sustainable development requirements for new investments, acquisitions and divestments |
| 2005 | Millennium Development Goals | Detailed our contribution against the UN’s Millennium Development Goals. |
| 2005 | Global whistle-blowing scheme | Introduced global helpline and website allowing staff to seek advice and report concerns about suspected incidents of bribery or fraud |
| 2006 | Shell Code of Conduct | Company-wide Code of Conduct launched. |
| 2006 | Dow Jones Sustainability Index | Ranked best in class for environmental management, policy and biodiversity as well as corporate governance, codes of conduct and transparency |
| 2006 | Learning | Sustainable development considerations integrated in curriculum of the Shell Project and Commercial Academies |
| 2008 | Confirmed as A+ level reporters for the 2007 Shell Sustainability Report through our application of the Global Reporting Initiative’s G3 guidelines. | |
| 2009 | We have a Director of Sustainable Development and Corporate Affairs reporting to our Chief Executive |