London — Shell, the oil giant, was forced to suspend its annual general meeting (AGM), Tuesday after it was disrupted in part by climate change activists.
About half an hour after they began, proceedings at the central London venue were stopped.
According to live footage of the meeting, protesters shouted: “Stop believing that you are doing nothing harm.” Think of your family and children. They will be affected by the climate emergency.
Demonstrators sang, “We will, and we will stop you!” Before police arrived, they were forced to leave the area.
The Guardian reports that some people glued themselves to their seats.
Another group of protestors gathered outside, singing and shouting slogans like “shame upon Shell” and holding signs that said the company was “guilty by ecocide,” which means killing the environment.
Andrew Mackenzie, chairman of the AGM, apologized to delegates for trying unsuccessfully to persuade protesters to wait until they could discuss a resolution regarding a climate change plan.
Money Rebellion, an activist group, stated that more than 70 people participated in the protest as part of a larger call for action against Shell regarding its climate action plan.
According to Reuters, Money Rebellion is linked with Extinction Rebellion, a climate protest group.
“We are here to embarrass and hold them accountable for as much as possible. They are aware of what is going on. According to Reuters, Money Rebellion’s Aidan Knox stated that they are not here to educate them.
According to the Guardian, a Shell spokesperson stated that they respect everyone’s right to voice their opinions and welcome constructive engagement regarding our strategy and the energy transition. This disruption at the AGM is not constructive engagement.
“We all agree that climate change must be addressed urgently. Shell has set a clear goal to be a net zero emission business by 2050.
The group had previously disrupted AGMs at the banks HSBC and Barclays as well as Standard Chartered.
A Shell consultant quit Monday and accused the oil giant, in an email, of “failing to reduce climate risk on a large planetary scale”.
Caroline Dennett, a U.K. safety consultant, stated that the company’s continual extraction of oil was causing “extreme damage” to the planet.
The company responded by stating that it has short, medium, and long-term goals to achieve net zero and is committed to reducing carbon emissions.
A spokeswoman for AFP stated that billions of dollars have been already invested in low-carbon energy. However, the transition from oil would take decades.
HSBC suspended a top executive in the meantime for minimizing the impact of climate changes in a recent presentation.
