Today, demands for increased openness and transparency in business reporting come from a wide range of stakeholders and are being actively promoted by Government. Recently, the Department for Environment Transport and the Regions (DETR) wrote to companies reminding them that "environmental reporting should be seen as part of an effective communication strategy and not just a public relations exercise." One thing is certain. The days when companies were judged solely in terms of economic performance and wealth creation have disappeared - which is not to say that these factors are unimportant, since economic prosperity remains the foundation stone on which our wider contributions can be built. For us, Brent Spar was the key turning point. It was a wake up call, not only to Shell, but to the entire oil and gas industry, and to industry in general. Brent Spar required a unique solution, but the Spar dialogue set important general precedents for the future. Major dialogue events were held in Copenhagen, Rotterdam, Hamburg and London in October 1997. Participants included Greenpeace and other environmental NGOs. In addition, we set up a dedicated Brent Spar internet site, which has so far attracted over 25,000 hits, and sent out 2,500 CD-Roms to interested stakeholders. The dialogue process was an undoubted success; it led to a Brent Spar solution which has been formally approved , and, just as important, has been widely accepted by all concerned stakeholders. And I'm pleased to say that the stakeholder dialogue process which Brent Spar followed is now being repeated on other front-line business issues. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the setting of Shell Expro environmental targets and in the recently announced oil industry drill-cuttings dialogue. Earlier this year, Shell Expro held its first in-depth meeting with external stakeholders to review our approach to managing environmental performance. This was a key step to gaining effective stakeholder input into establishing Shell Expro's long-term environmental targets. For stakeholders have a key role to play in helping us to make difficult decisions about where the environmental pound is best spent. One thing is certain. These are not black and white choices. For example, should additional spending be directed to further reducing oil to sea discharges where the public interest is greatest , but where emission levels are already very low? Or should investment be directed to other , less obvious, areas where the environmental benefit may be greater? The workshop helped us re-set our long term goals and also highlighted to us the need to address the issue of cuttings left over from past drilling activity.
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