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.
UPDATE: Climate protesters attempt to storm the stage of Shell AGM!!!
— Fossil Free London (@fossilfreeLDN) May 23, 2023
As Shell continues to cause climate chaos, we will continue to do everything in our power to #ShutDownShell pic.twitter.com/yl2tJlZXUD
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?"
De aandeelhoudersvergadering van #Shell zou om 11:00 uur beginnen, maar Sir Andrew Mackenzie is aan zijn agenda nog niet toegekomen. Activisten verstoren de boel en worden weggesleept door de beveiliging. RTL Z is elk uur live, met updates. Schakel in via kanaal 11 of 12. pic.twitter.com/goDngatpMv
— RTL Z (@RTLZ) May 23, 2023
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.