Liam Denning, Columnist

Shell Just Sent Lobbyists a Message on Climate Change

Publicly breaking with a trade group sets a precedent rivals may soon follow.

April 2, 2019 at 3:46 PM UTC

Liam Denning is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering energy. A former banker, he edited the Wall Street Journal’s Heard on the Street column and wrote the Financial Times’s Lex column.

An oil company not having a position on carbon emissions is like Cookie Monster not having a position on crumbs.
Photographer: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

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Royal Dutch Shell Plc just fired a shot across the bow of oil lobbyists. More of a slingshot than a cannon, but significant nonetheless.

The Anglo-Dutch oil major released a report Tuesday summarizing its relationship with 19 industry associations on the subject of climate-change goals. The company says it has some “misalignment” with nine of them and “material misalignment” with one, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers. As a result, Shell intends to let its membership of AFPM lapse in 2020.