Summary In 1997, the Royal Dutch/Shell Group made a public commitment to contribute to sustainable development (SD) and has since undertaken extensive work to turn this into practical reality and integrate the concept into business activities. Shell E&P produced a framework to guide development of the business in line with the SD concept. The cornerstone of the approach is six sustainability principles, applicable from corporate to site level. Each Shell E&P operating company has used the principles to frame a strategy and assess its own course and contribution to SD, reflecting individual company operating environments, cultures, and stakeholder values. This paper provides a background to the approach developed and discusses progress to date. Examples from several Shell operating companies illustrate how SD considerations are being integrated into activities and how work is being taken forward. The focus is on ways that the E&P business can contribute toward sustainability goals. Movement by E&P companies into other energy sectors, such as renewables, is not considered. Introduction SD is about integration and balance: integrating economic, social, and environmental aspects of activities and balancing short-term wants with long-term needs. While business alone cannot create the changes required to deliver SD, as part of society, it has a role to play. The Royal Dutch/Shell Group publicly expressed its commitment to contribute to SD and believes that this holds the key to its long-term success. Having made this pledge, the challenge is to ensure that the commitment is fully integrated throughout business activities. This paper outlines the approach taken to address this task. It first provides the background to the Shell Group's SD commitment and aspirations and reviews initial activities undertaken that have shaped the approach adopted today. The paper then discusses the program developed during 1999 to build on initial successes and intensify efforts to integrate sustainability into the business. Progress to date is reviewed and examples from Shell E&P operating companies around the world illustrate the different types of approaches being taken. Finally, conclusions resulting from the work and next steps for the future are outlined. The SD Commitment and Aspirations The commitment to contribute to SD was first included in the Royal Dutch/Shell Group's revised business principles and health, safety, and environment (HSE) policy in March 1997. Shell accepts the Brundtland Commission SD definition of "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs," adopted at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development.1 Shell also recognizes that SD encompasses three components—environmental, social, and economic—that are interdependent. By taking a broader, more integrated approach to business, the company believes that SD will open up new opportunities in emerging markets and customer groups and will also help the company contribute credibly to the public SD debate, work constructively with stakeholders, and maintain and enhance its reputation. SD and E&P Given that the E&P business is based around extraction of a finite resource, some have questioned how it can be compatible with SD. Shell's view is that, while fossil fuels are unsustainable, meeting the needs of both present and future generations requires energy. Today, fossil fuels supply approximately 85% of the world's energy needs, and demand is expected to rise as population grows and economies develop. Sustainable alternatives lie in renewable sources of energy, and the Royal Dutch/Shell Group has established a dedicated renewables business to pursue development of renewable resources, such as solar, biomass, and wind energy. These are expected to grow as new and existing technologies are developed further and become more cost-competitive. Until renewables are in use, however, the E&P business has a clear role to play in contributing to SD objectives through energy supply, wealth generation, employment, and development and transfer of technology and skills in as sustainable manner as possible. Indeed, the need to consider such issues becomes increasingly apparent and vital to success as E&P increasingly operates under a "global spotlight" and moves into more remote areas and those that are often environmentally and socially sensitive. Profitability is no longer enough. How money is made and the impacts of what companies do are becoming more and more important. Turning Commitment Into Practice First Steps. E&P was one of the first Shell businesses to attempt to translate the SD concept into practical guidance and tools. As a first step, in April 1997, Shell Intl. E&P (the Shell E&P service company) produced a detailed and practical sustainability assessment guide that included such tools and techniques as a sustainability checklist for new projects and an evaluation tool to monitor and assess company progress.2 It also contained case studies illustrating how companies might get started. An internal Web site was established to provide a central place to obtain information and share experiences.
In pursuit of greater safety, lower environmental impact and lower capital expenditure, it is desired to reduce (or preferably eliminate) upstream offshore processing. Specifically for offshore platforms, the biggest capital expenditure savings can be achieved by either designing the offshore production facilities to be unmanned platforms or having subsea completions without a platform. In both cases all produced wellhead fluids will need to be transported untreated to shore in trunklines.
The Royal Dutch/Shell Group has committed in its key policy documents to contribute to sustainable development (SD). Shell accepts the Brundtland Commission definition of SD "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" as adopted at the 1992 UNCED or 'Rio' Conference, and recognizes that it comprises three components - economic, environmental and social aspects - which are interdependant. For the E&P business, the key challenge is to satisfy the growth for energy demand, whilst safeguarding the environment and acting in a socially and economically responsible manner. Particular issues facing E&P companies include emissions contributing to global climate change; local environmental, social and health impacts; conservation of biodiversity in sensitive areas; social and economic development in concession areas; transparency and openness in communication and assurance of performance. This paper provides a background to SD and the issues that it raises for the E&P Business. It demonstrates how the commitment may be integrated into day-to-day activities and describes two tools which have been developed to allow for assessment and monitoring of progress towards a defined SD goal for new projects and for E&P companies respectively.
Since the Royal Dutch/Shell Group made a public commitment to contribute to sustainable development (SD), extensive work has been undertaken to turn this into practical reality and integrate the concept into business activities. In Shell EP, a framework has been produced to guide the development of the business in line with the concept of SD. The cornerstone of the approach is six sustainability principles, applicable from the corporate to site level. Each Shell EP company has used the principles to frame a strategy and assess their own course and contribution to SD, reflecting their individual operating environments, culture and stakeholder values. The paper provides a background to the approach developed and discusses progress to date. Examples from several Shell operating companies illustrate how SD considerations are being integrated into activities and how work is being taken forward. The focus is on the ways that the EP business may contribute towards sustainability goals. Movement by EP companies into other energy sectors such as renewables is not considered. Introduction Sustainable development (SD) is about integration and balance. Integrating economic, social and environmental aspects of activities and balancing short-term wants with long-term needs. Whilst business alone cannot create the changes required to deliver sustainable development (SD), as part of society, it has a role to play. The Royal Dutch/Shell Group has publicly expressed its commitment to contribute to SD and believes that this holds the key to its long-term success. Having made this pledge, the challenge is to ensure that the commitment is fully integrated throughout business activities. This paper outlines the approach taken by the Shell EP Business (‘EP’) to address this task. It starts by providing a background to the Shell Group's SD commitment and aspirations and reviewing initial activities undertaken that have shaped the approach adopted today. The paper then discusses the programme developed during 1999 to build on initial successes and intensify efforts to integrate sustainability into the business. Progress to date is reviewed and examples from Shell EP companies around the world illustrate the different types of approach being taken. Finally, conclusions resulting from the work and next steps for the future are outlined. Shell's SD commitment and aspirations The commitment to contribute to SD was first included in the Royal Dutch/Shell Group's revised Business Principles and HSE Policy in March 1997. Shell accepts the Brundtland Commission definition; " meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" as adopted at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development. (Ref.1) and recognises that SD encompasses three components - environmental, social and economic - which are interdependent. By taking a broader, more integrated approach to business, Shell believes that SD will open up new opportunities in emerging markets and customer groups. It will also help the company to contribute credibly to the public SD debate, work constructively with stakeholders and maintain and enhance its reputation.
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