Powering progress for society, investors and the planet

Today we are setting out our strategy to get to net-zero emissions. It means change for Shell.

It feels to me that we are moving into better days. Whether it is hope from vaccines against COVID-19 or the fresh momentum on climate change action from the new administration in the USA, change is in the air.

Change is taking place within Shell too. Change that will also take us into brighter times.

We have taken a deep look at what we do in society and how we contribute. And we have set ourselves the task of doing better. Our strategy is based on a set of ambitious but achievable goals, which we call Powering Progress. These lay out how we believe Shell can and must play a role as the world accelerates towards a future of cleaner energy. That means delivering for society, our investors and the planet. You can read about Powering Progress here. 

Net-zero emissions business

One of these goals is the target we announced last year to become a net-zero emissions business by 2050, in step with society’s own progress towards net zero. 

Today we are setting out our strategy to get there. Where we will spend and why, our carbon reduction targets and how we measure them, the structure of our business and how we will be profitable even as we change. You can read all the detail here, but the important thing you should know is that change is coming to Shell.

In fact, the change has already started. You could say it began last year when we announced our net-zero target, or the year before, when our oil production peaked. In truth, it started much earlier.

And the strategy we are announcing today is already in action. Our route to net zero, for example, involves investing an average of $2-3 billion a year for the next few years to build up our business supplying electricity. That is not enough, but our pace is accelerating. We expect this level of spending to rise through the decade, and that we will work with partners to multiply the effect. And because of this investment, we could be providing enough renewable electricity for 50 million households by 2030.

By then, if we are on track to achieve our ambitions, we could also be operating more than 2.5 million charging posts for electric vehicles and selling three times more biofuels and hydrogen than today.

I also hope that, by 2030, Shell will have achieved another of our ambitions: to provide reliable electricity to 100 million people in Africa and Asia who do not have it yet. That would already be a lot of change for Shell in less than 10 years, but it would be just the start of our journey to net zero by 2050.

Hydrogen, biofuels and renewable power

By then, in my vision for Shell, I would see all our profits coming from serving customers with net-zero energy solutions and sustainable materials. This is about selling the low-carbon products that consumers need and want: biofuels for aviation, hydrogen for heavy-duty transport, renewable power for homes and businesses. And it is about providing simple solutions for customers faced by an energy system of increasing complexity.

The energy we sell would be dominated by low or no-carbon products. Even so, and even by 2050, some consumers may still need some products that contain carbon. But all the fossil-based carbon we sell by that point would either be captured and stored, offset through nature or embedded in materials.

The sites we have today which produce liquefied natural gas, chemicals and other products would also be home to our future biofuel plants, as well as hydrogen facilities.

Of course, 30 years is a long time and I cannot possibly know today exactly what Shell would look like as a net-zero emissions business. But I do know that the global effort to decarbonise will come with huge opportunities for any business with a strong enough focus on the customer. And for Shell, with our scale, technical abilities and global reach, those opportunities will be even bigger.

That is why it feels to me that the change in the world, alongside the change in Shell, are signals towards better, brighter days. And after the year we have all endured, that does feel very welcome.