Shell has paused its annual general meeting in London after it was interrupted by environmental protesters chanting: “We will stop you.”
Climate protesters told the oil and gas company’s board: “We will expose you. We know who you are. We know what you have done. We will remember.”
They repeatedly chanted “Shell must fall” and accused the board of spending “more money on green advertising than green technology”.
Protesters shouted “shame on you” at the assembled executives at Central Hall in Westminster. The Shell chairman, Sir Andrew Mackenzie, became increasingly exasperated as he asked for quiet and was forced to formally pause the meeting after 40 minutes as it was continuously interrupted.
One shareholders shouted at the protesters “out! out! out!” and another made rude gestures towards them.
Police arrived at the meeting and watched as the protests, which lasted more than an hour, continued.
One protester said: “Where is your decency? Why are you sitting there smirking? You cannot dismiss us.”
Another attender responded angrily: “You have infiltrated this meeting. Let the chairman answer.”
The protester responded: “They give us answers and it’s always greenwash.”
Protesters then sang “We want climate justice now”.
Investors are due to vote at the event on Shell’s climate proposals. The Shell investor Royal London has said it intended to abstain on a vote on the firm’s climate transition proposals.
“There is not enough certainty in the plan that it aligns with the goals of the Paris agreement and the global necessary efforts to constraint temperature increases to below 1.5C,” Carlota Garcia-Manas, the head of engagement at Royal London Asset Management, has said.
The Dutch activist group Follow This wants the company’s policies to be more consistent with the Paris climate accord. Shell’s board has told investors to reject the group’s resolution that asks it to set more stringent climate goals.
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