By Toby Sterling
THE HAGUE, May 21 (Reuters) - A group of environmentalactivists tried to disrupt Royal Dutch Shell's annualshareholder meeting on Tuesday, calling for this year'sgathering to be the company's last.
Around 20 activists from Dutch environmental action groupCode Rood (Code Red) dressed in red jumpsuits held up bannerswith the slogan "shut down fossil power" and jeered at passingshareholders as they stood outside the energy giant's meeting inthe seaside town of Scheveningen near The Hague.
Inside the venue a spokeswoman for Code Red, Talissa Soto,addressed the board, saying Shell's business cannot bereconciled with global warming and the only solution is for itsbusiness model "to become history."
"We will tax you, regulate you, split you up... today youare witnessing the last-ever Shell AGM," she said.
Shell CEO Ben van Beurden told the meeting that the companywanted to do the right thing, but the energy industry could notwork alone.
"Our company wants to be on the right side of history and weare doing everything that is needed, but we cannot do it aloneand as a matter of fact even the entire energy industry cannotdo it on its own," he said.
"If we cannot do it together with customers, regulators,policymakers, it’s just not going to happen. That's why I thinkwe have to all try to step up, rather than accusing, polarizingand using very unhelpful stances."
The Anglo-Dutch company had drawn rare praise from investorsand environmental activists in December when it set out plans tointroduce industry-leading targets to reduce greenhouse gasemissions and link them to executivepay.
But the activists on Tuesday said Shell invests too heavilyin the extraction of fossil fuels, the use of which is blamedfor carbon emissions that cause climate change.
"Of the billions that Shell invests, more than 95% continuesto go to the extraction of oil and gas," while shareholders"opted for short-term profit at the expense of people and theclimate," Code Red said in a statement. It vowed to "escalateour actions by proactively targeting sites of decision and powerof the fossil fuel industry".
A number of protesters also tried to disrupt rival BP'sannual shareholder meeting on Tuesday in Aberdeen,Scotland, shouting "this is a crime scene".(Reporting by Piroschka van de Wou and Toby Sterling; Writingby Anthony Deutsch; editing by Susan Fenton)
