Shell CEO pay up 50% as soaring energy prices boosted profit
LONDON — The pay package for Shell’s CEO jumped by half last year to nearly $12 million, the fossil fuel giant said Thursday, as oil and gas companies made record profits from skyrocketing energy costs that continue to drive a cost-of-living crisis.
London-based Shell paid Ben van Beurden $11.5 million in 2022 as annual company profits doubled to an all-time high of $40 billion because Russia’s war in Ukraine sent oil and gas prices soaring.
Sergei Karpukhin, Pool Photo via AP
CEO of Royal Dutch Shell Ben van Beurden speaks June 21, 2017, at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
Van Beurden stepped down at the end of last year and was replaced by Wael Sawan, who will be paid a base salary of $1.66 million and a bonus that’s expected to be bigger than the salary, the report said.
Demands have increased for oil and gas companies raking in huge profits to do more to reduce high energy costs that are hurting consumers and small businesses.
Opposition lawmakers in Britain have called for an expanded tax on the windfall profits of oil and gas firms to provide more help for households struggling to afford expensive utility bills.
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Shell CEO pay up 50% as soaring energy prices boosted profitAP file
The pledge by rich countries to mobilize $100 billion each year for poor nations to cope with climate change was likely missed in 2020. Estimates for 2019 show the funding was just shy of $80 billion.
The failure to deliver on a promise first made in 2009 has caused deep anger and distrust among poor nations, with some threatening to block any agreement until the money is provided.
There is no set formula for how much each country should contribute toward the total, or how. But the Washington-based World Resources Institute calculated that only a handful of rich countries, including France, Japan, Norway, Germany and Sweden, provided a fair share. The United States, Australia and Canada fell far short.
One solution proposed this week is for the payments to average $100 billion per year from 2021 to 2025, with the shortfall in earlier years made up for by higher payments later on.
Developing countries will use the Glasgow talks to press for half the money to be earmarked for projects aimed at adapting to climate change. At the moment, most of the funding goes toward reducing emissions.
Poor nations also insist it's also time to address who will pay for the damage to habitats and livelihoods from rising seas, growing deserts and more extreme weather.
"Our people are suffering in a variety of ways as a result of a crisis that they did little to cause," said Sonam P. Wangdi of Bhutan, who chairs the Least Developed Countries group at the talks.
AP fileThe pledge by rich countries to mobilize $100 billion each year for poor nations to cope with climate change was likely missed in 2020. Estimates for 2019 show the funding was just shy of $80 billion.
The failure to deliver on a promise first made in 2009 has caused deep anger and distrust among poor nations, with some threatening to block any agreement until the money is provided.
There is no set formula for how much each country should contribute toward the total, or how. But the Washington-based World Resources Institute calculated that only a handful of rich countries, including France, Japan, Norway, Germany and Sweden, provided a fair share. The United States, Australia and Canada fell far short.
One solution proposed this week is for the payments to average $100 billion per year from 2021 to 2025, with the shortfall in earlier years made up for by higher payments later on.
Developing countries will use the Glasgow talks to press for half the money to be earmarked for projects aimed at adapting to climate change. At the moment, most of the funding goes toward reducing emissions.
Poor nations also insist it's also time to address who will pay for the damage to habitats and livelihoods from rising seas, growing deserts and more extreme weather.
"Our people are suffering in a variety of ways as a result of a crisis that they did little to cause," said Sonam P. Wangdi of Bhutan, who chairs the Least Developed Countries group at the talks.
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Shell CEO pay up 50% as soaring energy prices boosted profitAP file
Some unfinished business from the Paris climate summit in 2015 involves the rules for international carbon trading, which is seen as a key instrument to harness market forces in the fight against global warming.
Negotiators failed to finalize this part of the Paris rulebook in Madrid two years ago. They will make another attempt in Glasgow. On one side will be countries that want tighter rules to avoid worthless carbon vouchers flooding the market. On the other side will be developing nations that insist certificates amassed under previous agreements should be honored.
The rules are critical because for many countries and companies to achieve "net zero" emissions by midcentury, pollution will have to be balanced out by an equal amount of carbon reliably captured elsewhere, such as through forests or technological means.
Establishing a truly international carbon market also presents an opportunity to raise money through transaction fees, but who manages those and how remains unresolved.
AP fileSome unfinished business from the Paris climate summit in 2015 involves the rules for international carbon trading, which is seen as a key instrument to harness market forces in the fight against global warming.
Negotiators failed to finalize this part of the Paris rulebook in Madrid two years ago. They will make another attempt in Glasgow. On one side will be countries that want tighter rules to avoid worthless carbon vouchers flooding the market. On the other side will be developing nations that insist certificates amassed under previous agreements should be honored.
The rules are critical because for many countries and companies to achieve "net zero" emissions by midcentury, pollution will have to be balanced out by an equal amount of carbon reliably captured elsewhere, such as through forests or technological means.
Establishing a truly international carbon market also presents an opportunity to raise money through transaction fees, but who manages those and how remains unresolved.
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Shell CEO pay up 50% as soaring energy prices boosted profitAP file
Transparency is a key element of the talks, because the voluntary nature of the Paris accord means countries closely watch what how much progress others make before ratcheting up their targets another notch.
Another debate centers around the time frame for reporting fresh pollution-reduction targets. Current agreements require developed countries to set new goals every five years, but some participants want to shift to annual pledges, at least until the world is on track to meet the Paris goals.
AP fileTransparency is a key element of the talks, because the voluntary nature of the Paris accord means countries closely watch what how much progress others make before ratcheting up their targets another notch.
Another debate centers around the time frame for reporting fresh pollution-reduction targets. Current agreements require developed countries to set new goals every five years, but some participants want to shift to annual pledges, at least until the world is on track to meet the Paris goals.
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Shell CEO pay up 50% as soaring energy prices boosted profitAP file
Methane, the main component in natural gas and a byproduct of some agriculture, has been somewhat overlooked in past negotiations.
As a greenhouse gas, it's about 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide but stays in the air for only about a decade. Reducing emissions by fixing leaks in gas pipelines and limiting flaring at drilling sites would provide a small but noticeable improvement.
The world cannot solve the climate problem without cutting methane, said Kelly Levin, chief of science, data and systems change at the Bezos Earth Fund.
AP fileMethane, the main component in natural gas and a byproduct of some agriculture, has been somewhat overlooked in past negotiations.
As a greenhouse gas, it's about 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide but stays in the air for only about a decade. Reducing emissions by fixing leaks in gas pipelines and limiting flaring at drilling sites would provide a small but noticeable improvement.
The world cannot solve the climate problem without cutting methane, said Kelly Levin, chief of science, data and systems change at the Bezos Earth Fund.
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Shell CEO pay up 50% as soaring energy prices boosted profitAP file
A proposed pledge to reduce emissions by 45% by 2030 compared with 2010 levels is not so much a negotiating point as a goal established by the U.N. for the talks to be considered a success. So far, emissions are going up, not down.
Halving emissions in the next decade is considered a key stepping stone on the path to net zero by 2050, which scientists say is the only way to achieve the Paris accord's goal of capping global warming at 1.5 Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) by the end of the century.
AP fileA proposed pledge to reduce emissions by 45% by 2030 compared with 2010 levels is not so much a negotiating point as a goal established by the U.N. for the talks to be considered a success. So far, emissions are going up, not down.
Halving emissions in the next decade is considered a key stepping stone on the path to net zero by 2050, which scientists say is the only way to achieve the Paris accord's goal of capping global warming at 1.5 Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) by the end of the century.
Categories: World News
