Shell 2022 profits: Fossil fuel giant profiteering from climate destruction and immense human suffering

Responding to Shell’s breathtaking profits today (2 Feb), senior climate justice campaigner for Greenpeace UK Elena Polisano, said: “Shell is profiteering from climate destruction and immense human suffering. While Shell counts their record-breaking billions, people across the globe count the damage from the record-breaking droughts, heatwaves and floods this oil giant is fueling. This is the stark reality of climate injustice, and we must end it.

“World leaders have just set up a new fund to pay for the loss and damage caused by the climate crisis. Now they should force historical mega polluters like Shell to pay into it. It’s time to make polluters pay. If they had pivoted their business and transitioned away from fossil fuels sooner, we wouldn’t be in such a deep crisis. It’s time for them to stop drilling and start paying.”

Greenpeace campaigners are calling on Shell to take responsibility for its historic role in the climate crisis and pay for the devastation it causes around the world, but particularly in Global South countries like the Philippines.

Virginia Benosa-Llorin, a Greenpeace Southeast Asia climate justice campaigner currently on board the Arctic Sunrise, said: “Where I’m from, San Mateo, Rizal, in the Philippines, got battered by typhoon Ketsana in 2009, which killed 464 people and affected more than 900,000 families, including mine.

“My husband and I saved up for years to buy our own home, and tightened our belts to furnish it, bit by bit. Then came Ketsana. In one sweep, everything was gone. Watching the water rising rapidly while we were trapped in our tiny attic was horrible; I felt like the rain wouldn’t stop. The only escape was through the roof, which my husband started to break. It was a long, horrendous day.

“People in the Philippines are suffering greatly despite the country’s tiny contribution to climate change, and that is an immense injustice. Carbon Majors like Shell are harming our lives, livelihoods, health, and property by continuing to drill for oil. They must stop this destructive business, uphold climate justice, and pay up for loss and damage.”