Shell reaffirms commitment to 'sustainable development'

Royal Dutch/Shell Group, the world's second-biggest publicly traded oil company, has reaffirmed its commitment to "sustainable development," with a special focus on combatting global climate change it says is related to consumption of fossil fuels.

The comments came in a presentation by Philip Watts, chairman of the committee of managing directors for Royal Dutch/Shell, at the recent inauguration of the new Shell Center for Sustainability at Rice University in Houston.

Other presentations focused on the issues surrounding sustainable development in developing countries and the emergence of a new program for trading credits for greenhouse gas emissions.

The inauguration kicked off a 2-day conference at the center of industry, government, and academic representatives to study air, energy, and water issues.

Last July, Shell paid the first $500,000 installment of its $3.5 million endowment to establish the interdisciplinary Shell Center for Sustainability as a hub for collaboration by academic, industry, and government experts addressing a wide range of economic, societal, and environmental issues through the application of technology, market-based incentives, and other initiatives (OGJ Online, Aug. 27, 2002).

Shell's stance

Watts reiterated his company's commitment to sustainable development of the world's natural resources, including "one of its most fundamental challenges, the complex threat from climate change."

Although that issue is complex and controversial, Watts said, "We stand with those who believe there is a problem, and that it is related to the burning of fossil fuels; we stand with those who are prepared to take action to solve that problem now before it is too late; and we believe that businesses, like Shell, can help to bridge differences that divide the US and Europe on this issue."

He said, "There is much we can all agree on if we focus on taking practical action today, rather than getting bogged down in the details of long-term plans that are bound to need changing. But business can only act within the right policy framework, which gives us the flexibility to react to developing understanding. And, of course, we look to government policies for this."

Defining sustainable development

"Sustainable development has become, among other things, a quest for synthesis between environmental welfare, local development, solidarities in each economic act, and a means of improving north-south hemisphere relations," said Guy Hascoet, a former French minister of state for social economy.

Hascoet criticized government policies and industrial subsidies among developed nations that put undeveloped countries at a disadvantage in international trade.

"The reality is cruel: We support the rule of the market when it is good for us and set up barriers and protection when it could be good for them," he said.

"There is no universally agreed definition of what is meant by sustainable development. Nor are all definitions of sustainable development sensible," Rice Pres. Malcolm Gillis said. Perhaps, he said, it "may be best defined as the path that maximizes the long-term net benefits to humankind, net of costs of environmental degradation."

Such an interpretation, said Gillis, "stresses not the need to limit development, but the need to develop sensibly in order to be better able to conserve. Sustainable development seeks to make conservation the handmaiden of development while protecting the interests of future generations."

Poverty is the prime adversary of good ecological practices in poor nations, Gillis said. "Poor people in developing countries are far more dependent on their soils, rivers, fisheries, and forests than are citizens of rich countries. Therefore, degradation of resources and environment looms as a much larger threat to life and health in developing countries," he said.