LONDON, May 21 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell ChiefExecutive Ben van Beurden on Thursday slammed as a "red herring"calls for investors to divest from energy companies as part ofthe fight against climate change.
Van Beurden singled out the "Keep it in the Ground" campaignled by British newspaper The Guardian that aims at keepingcharitable funds from investing in fossil fuels.
"The divest campaign, or Keep it in the Ground or the carbonbubble, ignore reality that 80 percent of the investment in theindustry has to be done just to stand still to arrest decline.It is a red herring," van Beurden told shareholders.
"It is a very seductive argument and that is why it catcheson, but it is a red herring.
"All those advocates of divesting or keep it in the groundare actually doing society a massive disservice because theycreate the illusion of there being a single silver bullet thatis simply not there."
Large investors, including faith groups, universityendowments and public pension funds have all in recent monthsbacked fossil fuel divestments ahead of the U.N. climate changesummit in Paris at the end of the year.
A deal in Paris to limit global warming could force billionsof dollars of oil, coal and gas to remain in the ground. (Reporting by Ron Bousso; Editing by David Holmes)