Video: Shell shareholders meeting cut short as security carry climate activists away
The shareholders’ meeting of Shell in London was interrupted on Tuesday morning after about 15 climate activists tried to storm the podium. Security guards narrowly stopped the activists from reaching the Shell board members and executives, and removed the protesters from the room one by one.
A visibly shaken Andrew Mackenzie, chairman of the supervisory board, adjourned the meeting, NOS reports. By the time Mackenzie halted the meeting, it had been going on for some time, but very little was discussed. Every time Mackenzie tried to say something, climate activists interrupted him with singing and shouting.
"We've heard this point many times now," Mackenzie said to those present. "Wouldn't it be nice to have this debate, rather than saying the same thing over and over again?"
Security guards removed the climate activists from the room one by one. Gerben Everts, who is at the meeting as director of the investment association VEB, told NOS that an hour into the session, the security guards had already removed about 60 activists from the room.
The activists want Shell to stop mining, selling, and burning fossil fuels. They also called for the resignation of the board.
Before the shareholders’ meeting, several of Shell’s major investors announced they would support a shareholder proposal from Follow This, which called on Shell to reduce its emissions more quickly.
