Embedding sustainability into projects
Safety and the impact of our activities on the environment and communities are vital considerations when we plan, design and operate our projects and facilities. The mandatory requirements in our Health, Safety, Security, Environment and Social Performance (HSSE & SP) Control Framework help to ensure projects and facilities are designed and constructed safely, responsibly and in a consistent way.
At a project level, assessing climate-related risks is an important part of making initial investment decisions. Projects under development that are expected to have a material greenhouse gas impact must meet our internal carbon performance standards or industry benchmarks. This indicates that they will be able to compete and prosper in a future where society aims to limit overall carbon emissions.
We require projects and facilities that we operate to have a greenhouse gas (GHG) and energy management plan in place if they are expected to produce, at peak, more than 50,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions. We focus improvement efforts on the most carbon-intensive projects, monitoring performance against applicable standards and running carbon competitiveness reviews to help us continue to improve. We conduct impact assessments for every major project and consider the economic, social, environmental and health opportunities and risks.
Read more about how we embed sustainability into the life of a project at www.shell.com/sustainability.
Read about our major projects at www.shell.com/about-us/major-projects.
Decommissioning and restoration
Decommissioning is part of the normal life cycle of every oil and gas structure and we work hard to do it safely and responsibly. This includes restoring the surroundings of onshore and offshore platforms and facilities in line with relevant legislation, while taking our own environmental standards into account.
We have decommissioning activities under way in Brunei, India, Malaysia, the Netherlands, the UK and the USA. We seek to reuse, repurpose and recycle materials in decommissioning. At the end of 2021, we reported $22.1 billion on our balance sheet for current and non-current decommissioning and other provisions, which is how we account for future decommissioning expenses (see our Annual Report).
Read more about Shell’s approach to decommissioning at www.shell.com/sustainability/decommissioning-and-restoration.
