* Shell sets "ambition" for net zero emissions by 2050
* Sets 3%-4% emissions reduction target by 2022
(Adds details, quotes)
By Ron Bousso
LONDON, April 16 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell on
Thursday deepened its ambition to battle climate change, setting
the oil and gas sector's broadest plan to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions to net zero by 2050.
The new climate goals put the Anglo-Dutch company - at least
on paper - ahead of the most progressive of its rivals,
including BP and Italy's Eni.
"Society's expectations have shifted quickly in the debate
around climate change," Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden
said in a statement.
"Shell now needs to go further with our own ambitions, which
is why we aim to be a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050
or sooner."
Shell said it plans to fully offset carbon emissions from
its own oil and gas production by 2050, in what is known as
Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.
Those emissions do not include the much larger category of
greenhouse gases emitted from fuels and products it sells to
customers such as jet fuel and gasoline, known as Scope 3.
Shell has not included Scope 3 emissions in its ambition,
saying it cannot control the way customers use its products.
However, it will "pivot towards serving businesses and
sectors that by 2050 are also net-zero emissions," which it said
means its Scope 3 emissions should be offset.
Unlike its rivals, the ambition applies to all of the
products it produces, refines and buys from other companies.
Shell also expanded its broader aim to cut the total carbon
emission footprint from energy products its sells, an
intensity-based measure, by around 65% by 2050, and by around
30% by 2035.
Previously Shell aimed to reduce its net carbon footprint by
50% by 2050 and by 20% by 2035.
Shell has rejected setting long-term targets, opting instead
for ambitions which its says allow it flexibility to move "in
step" with society's shift away from fossil fuels in order to
battle global warming.
Shell did not outline how it plans to change its spending
plans in order to meet the new climate goals. Last year it spent
roughly 8% of its $24 billion budget on low-carbon energies.
"Shell’s aim is that, in the future, its operating plans and
budgets will change to reflect this movement towards its new
net-zero emissions ambition," it said in a statement.
The Anglo-Dutch company also set binding targets to reduce
its net carbon footprint in the three years to 2022 by 3% to 4%
from a 2016 baseline.
(Reporting by Ron Bousso; Editing by Susan Fenton and John
Stonestreet)
