For an oil company to declare itself "green-friendly" might seem a contradiction in terms. But it is what defends the Dutch Shell. This week came to light that the company produced a documentary in 1991 alerting on the dangers of climate change. Climate of Concern was distributed to hundreds of colleges and universities, explaining the serious consequences that fossil fuels would have on climate and called for scientific consensus to address the phenomenon.
What was an oil company, whose big business is fossil fuels, talking agains fossil fuels?
The answer has been given by the reality itself, 26 years later, when Shell has not only done virtually nothing to combat climate change, but has contributed to it with its operations. That tape was framed within what would begin to be a constant in the big extractivist companies of the world: to show the public their commitment to the environment and then, without the magnifying glass of society, continue to bill billions of benefits at their expense .
Weak compromises
Charlie Kronick, senior climate advisor at Greenpeace UK, says: "European oil companies, especially Shell, but also BP, Eni, Repsol and Statoil want to appear committed to climate change, but their actions in This field is only in words ".
Some of the examples given by Kronick are initiatives to which these companies have adhered, such as the Gas and Oil Climate Initiative (OGCI) or the Energy Transition Commission (ETC).
Shell sponsored content in media normally consumed by European political elites such as Politico Europe and organized even theme parks for children, who showed them a future with clean energies, led, yes, by an oil company
"They seem progressive on the surface, but they either require political conditions that will never happen, such as a global coal price agreement, or their commitments are really weak. The OGCI said that in 10 years, companies would invest $ 1 billion in renewable energy development. This means, divided among the 10 participating companies, 10 million dollars per company. It's ridiculous if you then know that Shell alone invests £ 25 billion a year in its total operations, "says Kronick.
Public relations for millennials
But of all the movements of the oil companies to wash their image, one of the most striking is the huge propaganda and public relations apparatus of Shell, which has increased as never since last year. "In this Shell takes the palm," says Kronick.
Since 2016, the company has launched several global campaigns aimed at segmented audiences to convince them of the oil company's commitment to zero emissions and a clean energy future. The Energy Desk portal, linked to Greenpeace, leaked the internal public relations strategy that Shell launched last year, through the campaign "A Better Life with a Healthy Planet: the Road to Zero Emissions."
The document, aimed at public relations agencies that wanted to compete, described the objectives of the campaign, and put some demands on how to connect with millennials committed to energy, in order to "develop brand loyalty." He also talked about addressing "influential people in business or opinion leaders."
Thus, Shell sponsored content in media normally consumed by European political elites such as Politico Europe and organized even theme parks for children, who showed them a future with clean energies, led, yes, by an oil company. He also released a music video featuring artists of the stature of Steve Aoki with the slogan "Make the future", which exceeded 40 million views. Also, surprisingly, Shell has more than 6 million followers on Facebook.
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