Page 13 - EurOil Week 45 2021

EurOil ENERGY TRANSITION EurOil

Shell sets $1.4bn aside to invest

in energy transition start-ups

UK ROYAL Dutch Shell has unveiled a $1.4bn fund Point is pushing for Shell’s break-up, separating
to invest in “start-ups and scale-ups” that sup- its legacy oil and gas business from its growing
Van Beurden called port the energy transition, following pressure on renewable and low-carbon business. But its
the energy transition the oil major to step up efforts to tackle climate management has urged against investors pursu-
the single largest change. ing this.
technological revolution Shell Ventures managing director Geert van “Our unique approach to venturing, with a
of this time. de Wouw said the fund would support “start- focus on technology deployment, has enabled
ups and scale-ups across the full spectrum, from many of our portfolio companies to develop
seed to Series A to growth equity, that are work- strategy relationships with Shell businesses,” van
ing to accelerate the energy transition.” de Wouw continued. “A win-win in my book, as
“In line with Shell’s efforts to accelerate pro- Shell gets accelerated access to innovative tech-
gress against our net-zero target, our investment nologies and business models, while our portfo-
will be laser-focused on renewable energy, stor- lio companies are able to achieve scale.”
age and utilisation, mobility, transportation and Shell CEO Ben van Beurden commented in
logistics, circular economy and nature-based a separate statement on social media that he saw
solutions,” he said. the energy transition as “the single largest tech-
Shell and other European oil and gas majors nological revolution of this time.”
are facing calls to beef up their emissions targets “Technology will continue to transform our
and do more to make the transition to lower-car- lives and the energy industry, improving safety
bon forms of energy. A Dutch court ruled in May and efficiency and helping us to accelerate the
that Shell must step up efforts to reduce its Scope transition to net zero,” he said.
1 and 2 emissions and set a target for Scope 3 Shell set up its ventures arm in 1996, but for
emissions resulting from the use of its products. many years the unit was focused on start-ups in
Shell has since increased its targets, but is yet to general rather than specific to the energy transi-
make Scope 3 commitments. tion. It shifted its investments to the transition
Meanwhile, an activist investor called Third five years ago. ™

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