Malcolm, what does sustainable development – or SD – mean for Shell today?
It means the same today as always – helping to meet the world’s growing energy needs in economically, environmentally and socially responsible ways. As our Business Principles make clear, this is about balancing short- and long-term interests while integrating economic, environmental and social considerations into business decision-making. SD is not a separate activity or discipline in Shell. It’s a mindset and a way of working. SD is what we aim to achieve when we integrate health, safety, security, environmental and social considerations, including local content, into projects and assets from the earliest stage. Then we must manage them effectively. Our commitment to SD has not changed, but we have set new priorities. We want to take a risk-based approach to ensure that SD issues and opportunities are fully integrated into our operations and projects. This involves thinking through our business risks instead of doing a process-driven, tick-the-box exercise. We will also more strongly
