Shell pays CEO £7.9m in first year, makes changes to climate pledge

Energy giant Shell switched up its climate pledge on Thursday and revealed that chief executive Wael Sawan was paid a total of £7.94m in his first year on the job.

While Sawan's pay packet was a reduction of almost £2.0m from that of his predecessor in 2022, it still marked an increase when compared to the equivalent pay for 2021. Sawan was given a base salary of £1.4m, an annual bonus of £2.71m, and a £2.6m long-term incentive payment, among other payments.

The revelation comes as Shell announced that it now plans to reduce the "net carbon intensity" of energy it sells by 15-20% compared to 2016 by 2030. Shell was previously hoping to reduce the measure by 20%. A reduction in the intensity would not necessarily mean that Shell's overall emissions would decrease - because even if the intensity does happen to fall, Shell could increase sales, keeping overall emissions stable or potentially higher.

Shell stated it would now focus on "value over volume" and look to sell more on selling electricity to business customers rather than households, meaning that the overall amount of electricity sold will rise at a slower rate than previously expected, which will reduce the speed at which the carbon intensity will be cut.

Alongside the reduction in intensity, Shell stated it was now targeting a reduction in emissions caused when customers use its oil products by 15-20% by 2030 compared to 2021.

As of 1030 GMT, Shell shares were up 0.36% at 2,537.0p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com