Report Review Panel
We use an external review panel to strengthen our sustainability reporting. The panel helps evaluate and improve the quality and credibility of our Sustainability Report. The 2023 Report Review Panel comprised five sustainability and corporate reporting experts:
- Hilary Parsons, UK, formerly Head of Creating Shared Value Engagement, Nestlé (Chair of the Report Review Panel);
- Vanessa Zimmerman, Australia, Chief Executive Officer, Pillar Two;
- Renard Siew, Malaysia, Adviser on Climate Change, Centre for Governance and Political Studies;
- Elizabeth White, USA, Principal Strategist and Global Head Sustainability and Development Impact, Sector Economics and Impact Measurement, International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank Group; and
- Maria Pontes, UK, Director of Programmes and Partnerships, Earthwatch Europe.
The panel provided input into our 2023 topic selection process. Panel members reviewed the report, discussed Shell’s reporting and spoke to relevant Shell employees before preparing their statement. The panel’s mandate focused on the quality of Shell’s reporting, including credibility, completeness and responsiveness. The panel is not accountable for reviewing the data in the report or material on Shell.com outside the bounds of this report. Panel members are offered an honorarium for their input.
Find out more about the panel at www.shell.com/sustainability-report-review-panel.
Report Review Panel recommendations
"As in previous years, Shell has given the panel the opportunity to review two drafts of the 2023 Sustainability Report and to provide written and verbal feedback which has been considered by Shell when producing the final version of the report. In 2021, Shell altered its approach to sustainability reporting in order to highlight significant data with further explanations and background provided through links to Shell.com. It should be noted that the panel has no remit in connection with the website and has not reviewed any of the information provided therein.
Overall, the panel has welcomed the conciseness of the Sustainability Report and has been keen to ensure that sufficient explanation of the context of the data is included in order to help readers better understand the information without having to resort immediately to clicking on website links. The panel has therefore stressed the importance of including transparent, qualitative information along with the figures, and we are pleased that this has been recognised by Shell who has continued to make progress in this area although more remains to be done. The use of graphics to get across progress on strategic priorities is a useful tool in this respect and we welcome that Shell continues to adopt this approach.
Highlighting key differences between the current report and that of the previous year is also useful such as changes to the most important topics, reasons for achieving or not achieving key targets or significant external actions such as the signing of the Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter launched at COP28. However, there is also an opportunity to better demonstrate the connections between the different topics. For example, making further links between the human rights section and other sustainability topics could aid readers to understand Shell’s overall approach and to highlight that this approach is also guided by respecting people.
We were also pleased to see additional detail on the actions taken in relation to contributing to a just transition. The respecting nature section has also been more elaborated than previously, although more transparency about the challenges involved would be useful. We were also pleased to see additional detail on salient human rights issues and Shell’s broader approach to managing human rights risks.
To further improve transparency, the panel recommends that Shell provides additional information and data on the following:
- Ensuring that key terms and concepts used throughout the report are clearly defined.
- The human rights risks associated with the transition to renewable solutions (including solar) and in connection with biodiversity, and actions taken to manage these risks.
- How Shell has used its salient human rights issues assessment to prioritise its human rights risk management actions, including more detail on how these issues guide work under its four focus areas.
- How Shell tracks the effectiveness of its sustainability performance, including comparisons with other sectors.
- Clearer information on the key challenges faced by Shell in achieving its respecting nature targets.
- The environmental challenges associated with wind and solar activities.
- More detail on the nature of stakeholder engagements."
