Political activity and public advocacy

Advocacy for some people suggests companies blocking change or advancing their own narrow interests. But we are calling for change, lending our expertise and working co-operatively with governments, companies and other partners in society. This is in line with our Business Principles, which allow and encourage us to contribute to debates on important policy issues that affect our business, our employees or the local communities where we operate.

What are we advocating?

When it comes to climate change, one of the biggest issues facing the world (and our industry), we are publicly calling for an international policy framework for CO2 management that will put a price on emitting CO2. This will encourage the technology and investments needed to increase energy efficiency and lower the CO2 intensity of energy supplies whilst not distorting international competition.

We are advising governments to use different policy instruments for different sectors: emissions trading systems for heavy industry and the power sector, combined with incentives for the rapid demonstration and deployment of CO2 capture and storage and simple, stable targets for renewable energy. Transport will need stringent vehicle efficiency targets and incentives for fuels with lower wells-to-wheels emissions of CO2. Measures to manage congestion and road use will also be needed. Tough energy efficiency standards will be most effective for buildings and appliances.  

Read more about our approach to climate change and the critical role governments play.

What are we doing?

We are sharing our knowledge, experience and understanding of the energy system with policy makers. For example, we are presenting our Strategic Energy Scenarios (link to scenarios) to governments and international institutions, to help them understand the challenges, trade-offs and urgency involved in building a responsible energy future. We are also helping to build the coalitions of companies, governments and non-governmental organisations needed to create support for effective policy. Examples include:

• calling for effective government regulation on climate change, as our Chief Executive did in a two open letters to the financial times in 2007;
• calling for government measures to set a mandatory limit on GHG emissions and allow firms to trade emission allowances in the US, as the President of Shell Oil  in the US has repeatedly done;
• being part of the US Climate Action Partnership - opens in new window;
• sitting on the Steering Board of the Gleneagles Dialogue on Climate Change - opens in new window; participating in the UK’s Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership - opens in new window; and
• participating in the Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change - opens in new window in the UK , a group of 19 companies that is encouraging the UK Government to take market-based actions to address GHG emissions and provide international leadership.

Read more about our work with others.

Political activity

The Business Principles prohibit payments by Shell companies to political parties. This is to avoid Shell companies buying or being perceived to be buying favours. According to our internal annual questionnaire, we made no payments to political parties or campaigns in 2007.

Read more about how we collect and report our data.

In the United States, Shell Oil Company administers a political action committee (Shell Oil Company Employees’ Political Awareness Committee). It is a voluntary, employee-run and employee funded organisation, that contributes money to political parties or individual candidates for political office, or organisations that support them. While Shell Oil Company provides administrative support to the Committee, it does not fund the Committee’s donations nor does it make any political contributions itself.