Tuesday, May 24, 2022

Shell safety consultant quits over 'double-talk on climate'


Shell safety consultant resigns over oil company's plans to expand fossil fuel extraction. 
File Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI | License Photo

May 23 (UPI) -- A Shell safety consultant has resigned over what she calls the oil company's "extreme harms" to the environment and "disregard for climate change risks."

Caroline Dennett submitted her resignation to Shell executives and 1,400 employees Monday in an email and public video, accusing the U.S. company of "failing on a massive planetary scale" and blasting the oil giant's plans to expand fossil fuel extraction.


"Today I'm quitting because of Shell's double talk on climate," Dennett said in her video. "Shell's stated safety ambition is to 'do no harm', 'Goal Zero' they call it and it sounds honorable. But they are completely failing on it."


Dennett worked as a senior safety consultant with Shell for 11 years. She specializes in evaluating safety procedures in high-risk industries, and started working with Shell after BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.

"I can no longer work for a company that ignores all the alarms and dismisses the risks of climate change and ecological collapse," Dennett said.

The former Shell consultant called the fossil fuel industry "the past" and urged other workers to leave the industry.

"If you can find a way out, then please walk away while there's still time," she said.

The resignation comes one day before Shell's annual general meeting in London. Shell is expected to face scrutiny Tuesday from activists who want the company's policies to line up with the Paris climate accord.

Last year, Shell released a net-zero strategy, but still plans to explore new fossil fuel projects until 2025. Shell responded to Dennett's comments by saying it plans to hit all of its targets by 2050.

"We're already investing billions of dollars in low-carbon energy, although the world will still need oil and gas for decades to come in sectors that can't be easily decarbonized," the company said.


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