Greenhouse gas emissions

GHG breakdown

Emissions by boundary and scope

Below we report emissions on an operational control (100% of emissions from companies and joint ventures where we are the operator) and equity basis (equity share of emissions from companies and joint ventures).

The direct (Scope 1) emissions come from the facilities under the operational control or the equity boundary. The energy indirect (Scope 2) emissions come from the facilities of others that provide electricity or heat and steam to our operations.

_{*2021 data will be available in June 2022.} 

The table below shows estimated Scope 3 emissions included in our net carbon intensity.
 

^[A] _{The values in this table reflect estimated Scope 3 emissions included in our net carbon intensity. This excludes certain contracts held for trading purposes and reported net rather than gross. Business-specific methodologies to net volumes have been applied in oil products and pipeline gas and power. Paper trades that do not result in physical product delivery are excluded. Retail sales volumes from markets where Shell operates under trademark licensing agreements are also excluded from the scope of Shell’s carbon intensity metric.}

^[B] _{Estimated emissions from other Scope 3 categories are provided below. 2021 data will be available in June 2022.}

^[C] _{This category includes estimated well-to-tank emissions from purchased third-party refined oil products, natural gas, LNG, crude oil and biofuels.}

^[D] _{This category includes estimated well-to-wire emissions from generation of purchased power included in our net carbon intensity.}

^[E] _{Estimated emissions from transportation and distribution of sold own oil products, LNG, GTL, natural gas, and biofuels.}

^[F] _{This category includes estimated emissions from sales volumes of oil products, natural gas, LNG, GTL and biofuels.}

^[G] _{This category includes estimated emissions from our refinery production, natural gas, LNG and GTL products.}

^[H] _{Estimated as the difference between own production and total sold products.}

See a more detailed breakdown of our 2020 Scope 3 (other indirect) emissions.

Emissions by business sector

Here we report the breakdown of emissions by business sector. These are the Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions on both an operational control and equity basis reported in million tonnes CO₂ equivalent.

Direct (Scope 1)

_{*2021 data will be available in June 2022.}

Energy Indirect (Scope 2) (market-based method)

Emissions intensity

Below we report GHG emission intensities for Upstream and Integrated Gas, refining and chemical facilities under our operational control (100% of direct (Scope 1) and energy indirect (Scope 2) GHG emissions normalised by an appropriate production value).

^[A] _{In tonnes of total direct and energy indirect GHG emissions per tonne of oil and gas available for sale, liquefied natural gas and gas-to-liquids production in Integrated Gas and Upstream.}

^[B]_{High value chemicals include olefin products (ethylene and propylene) plus the contained butadiene, benzene, acetylene, and high purity hydrogen production.}

^[C] _{UEDC^TM (Utilised Equivalent Distillation Capacity) is a proprietary metric of Solomon Associates. It is a complexity-weighted normalisation parameter that reflects the operating cost intensity of a refinery based on size and configuration of its particular mix of process and non-process facilities.}

GHG assurance

We undertake external verification of our operational control and equity GHG data to a level of limited assurance at the Shell Group and business level. The operational control verification for the previous year’s data is undertaken in February and the equity work is undertaken in May. The assurance statements become available in March and June respectively.

1. Limited assurance of the 2021 direct (Scope 1) and energy indirect (Scope 2) emissions under operational control

      Greenhouse gas emissions inventory report – Shell Group (covering Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions under operational control)

2. Limited assurance of the 2021 Scope 3 emissions included in net carbon intensity

3. Limited assurance of the 2020 direct (Scope 1) and energy indirect (Scope 2) emissions on an equity basis

In addition, we undertake external verification to a level of reasonable assurance at the majority of the major installations where we have operational control. The reasonable assurance audits at the major installations are conducted under the local regulated scheme or in the absence of regulation under Shell’s own program which uses external auditors from a variety of organisations.

Reasonable assurance of the 2020 direct (Scope 1) and energy indirect (Scope 2) emissions under operational control

Challenges with equity data

Approximately one quarter of the equity data comes from sources outside our data systems and carries potentially greater uncertainty. The quantification and hence verification of equity emissions takes longer than operational control emissions as we are dependent on receiving data from other parties and reporting timelines vary.

NCF assurance

Shell’s net carbon intensity is tracked, measured and reported using the Net Carbon Footprint (NCF) methodology. The intensity is determined by first estimating the individual emissions intensities for each of the energy product supply chains in Shell’s portfolio; this is done using established lifecycle analysis principles and includes both the emissions associated with the production and processing of energy products and the emissions associated with their use.

A weighted average of the individual energy product intensities is then calculated, with the weighting for each product determined by its sales volume. Emissions captured in sinks are deducted to give the final net value. We express our net carbon intensity as the grams of CO₂ equivalent per megajoule (gCO₂e/MJ) of energy sold by Shell.

We undertake external verification of our net carbon intensity values to a level of limited assurance at the Shell Group level. This external verification takes place in February with the assurance statements becoming available in March.

• Limited assurance of the 2016 Net Carbon Footprint
• Limited assurance of the 2017 Net Carbon Footprint
• Limited assurance of the 2018 Net Carbon Footprint
• Limited assurance of the 2019 Net Carbon Footprint
• Limited assurance of the 2020 Net Carbon Footprint
• Limited assurance of the 2021 Net Carbon Footprint

Shell also submits the individual energy product intensities for external assurance. The disaggregated NCF assurance statements below show the net carbon intensity of our energy products from 2016 to 2020. From 2021, the disaggregated intensity data have been integrated into a single assurance statement.

• Disaggregated NCF Assurance Statements 2016
• Disaggregated NCF Assurance Statements 2017
• Disaggregated NCF Assurance Statements 2018
• Disaggregated NCF Assurance Statements 2019
• Disaggregated NCF Assurance Statements 2020

Further information on Shell’s NCF methodology is available in the following document:

• Net Carbon Footprint methodology

Shell welcomes the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)

Shell welcomes the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). The TCFD is a global initiative to get companies across all sectors to assess climate-related risks and opportunities. It recommends that companies disclose information in four areas: governance, strategy, risk management, and targets and metrics. This table shows where to find Shell disclosures that are related to recommendations by the TCFD in Shell’s Annual Report and Accounts 2021.