Climate protesters crush Shell shareholders’ meeting
LONDON (AP) — Climate change protesters were led away by security guards at oil company Shell’s annual shareholders meeting in London on Tuesday after activists tried to storm the stage and provoked protests. major disruptions during the event.
Shell Chairman Andrew Mackenzie was unable to start the meeting for more than an hour as dozens of protesters stood up, chanting and chanting “Shut down Shell” and “Go to hell, Shell”. Several tried to run onto the stage, but were stopped by security guards who led them out of the venue at the ExCel conference center in London.
The campaigners, who included members of Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion, say Shell and other fossil fuel companies are making record profits at the expense of the environment.
Climate activists demonstrate outside Shell Plc’s annual general meeting (AGM) at the ExCel center in London, UK, Tuesday, May 23, 2023. The protests come as Shell faces a shareholder vote on a measure to increase its climate ambitions after a year of record company profits. Photographer: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Like other oil companies, Shell has posted bumper profits this year as global oil and natural gas prices soared after Russia invaded Ukraine. In February, Shell said its annual profits for 2022 hit a record $39.9 billion.
It has drawn public anger in the UK, where millions of households and businesses are struggling to cope with rising energy bills.
“Shell continues to drill for new oil and gas fields here in the UK and around the world in some of the most biodiverse areas of the Philippines and the Niger Delta,” said protester Carina Manitius, 27. of the Fossil Free London group. . “So we are here to say that business as usual cannot continue and we are going to shut you down.”
A Shell spokesperson said it respected people’s right to express their views, but “protesters have shown they are not interested in constructive engagement”.
“Shell has a clear goal of becoming a net-zero emissions energy company by 2050 and we believe our climate goals are aligned with the more ambitious goal of the Paris Agreement on climate change: to limit the increase in global average temperature 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels,” the company said in a statement.
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