THE HAGUE, May 19 (Reuters) - Dozens of demonstrators
chanting "Shell must fall" gathered on Tuesday outside the oil
giant's headquarters in the Netherlands, where a virtual annual
shareholders' meeting was underway.
Roughly 30 activists from environmental groups Greenpeace,
Extinction Rebellion and Code Red sang and danced in protest at
the Hague offices of Royal Dutch Shell.
Hundreds of activists had signed up to attend, but Dutch
authorities allowed no more than 30 due to coronavirus
distancing measures.
During the shareholders' meeting, some large investors were
expected to press the company for more concrete action to reduce
its environmental footprint and meet the Paris climate goals.
Dozens more protesters, many wearing face masks to prevent
the spread of COVID-19, demonstrated outside the nearby national
parliament building and city hall.
A dinosaur made of oil drums was erected outside Shell's
headquarters and protesters held banners that read "fossil
energies belong in museums" and "climate change final call:
Shell must fall."
Greenpeace called for an end to investments in fossil fuel.
"Shell and its investors must now take responsibility. Shell
has earned billions from oil exploitation, now these dirty
investments must come to an end," said Greenpeace biologist
Helena Spiritus.
Code Red said its members had carried out protests in cities
across the Netherlands and in Belgium, Germany and the Czech
Republic. Media reports said several Shell petrol stations had
been blocked in the morning to prevent customers from buying
fuel.
Shell has pledged to bring down its overall carbon intensity
by 65%. Intensity targets mean that absolute emissions can rise
with increasing production.
None of the big oil companies currently meets U.N. targets
to limit global warming despite ambitious goals set by Shell and
Eni (ENI.MI), according to the Transition Pathway Initiative,
which represents investors managing $19 trillion.
(Reporting by Piroschka van de Wou; Writng by Anthony Deutsch;
Editing by Giles Elgood)