July 2004
Shell Boss 'Fears For The Planet'
The newly installed chairman of Shell, one of the largest oil companies, has admitted that the threat of climate change is troubling and unless something is done he sees "very little hope for the world".
In an interview with The Guardian newspaper, Lord Oxburgh stressed the need to capture CO2 emissions, which climate scientists link to global climate change, and develop technologies to store this underground. This process is known as carbon sequestration and involves the long term storage of carbon in the biosphere.
"Sequestration is difficult, but if we don't have sequestration then I see very little hope for the world," said Lord Oxburgh. "No one can be comfortable at the prospect of continuing to pump out the amounts of carbon dioxide that we are pumping out at present ... with consequences that we really can't predict but are probably not good."
His comments echo those of the UK government's chief science adviser Sir David King, who declared in January that climate change was a far greater threat to the world than international terrorism, and challenged the US to do more to tackle greenhouse gas emissions.
The remarks are likely to anger other bosses within the oil industry who argue a link between the use of fossil fuels and global warming still has many uncertainties.
UK Friends of the Earth's director Tony Juniper said: "We are pleased that Shell appears to realise the serious threat posed by global climate change.
"But until it gets out of fossil fuels, Shell will continue to be a major part of the problem."
He added: "Technical fixes such as sequestration may have a role to play, but are likely to prove more expensive and less effective than simple measures to reduce emissions such as more fuel efficient vehicles and renewable sources of energy."
Lord Oxburgh, a respected geologist, replaced the disgraced Philip Watts as chairman of the British arm of Shell in March after the company was forced to reveal it had overstated the extent of its reserves.
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