Better Health for All

Shell's core business in oil, gas, and chemicals has significant negative health consequences, though it is investing in lower-emission alternatives like LNG and biofuels. In 2023, Shell invested $5.6 billion in low-carbon energy solutions, representing 49% of its R&D budget for decarbonization.

The company reported 69 unplanned releases totaling 27 tonnes of oil and chemicals in 2024 from its UK offshore operations. In 2023, there were four contractor fatalities and one government security agent fatality, with serious injuries and fatalities increasing to 12 from nine in 2022. Shell contributed $11.6 million to disaster relief in 2023, including $5 million for earthquake relief in Turkey. The company pledged $200 million to help people in sub-Saharan Africa, India, and Southeast Asia access energy, and in 2023, social programs provided 42,000 people in these regions with electricity or improved cooking. Shell's internal health programs include mental wellbeing initiatives like the Think Well Program and Resilience tools. In 2023, Shell notified data privacy regulators of personal data breaches. The company's operations generate significant health-harming externalities, including 41 thousand tonnes of methane emissions and 1.0 thousand tonnes of hydrocarbons discharged to surface water in 2023.

Fair Money & Economic Opportunity

The provided articles describe Shell's involvement in entrepreneurial support programs, specifically Shell LiveWIRE Louisiana and Shell LiveWIRE Permian Basin, which aim to support aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners in rural and underserved communities.

These programs provide training, mentorship, and capital through partners like LiftFund. While the LiveWIRE program reported supporting 984 businesses, creating 1,312 jobs, and 207 new businesses in 2020, this data pertains to the program's outcomes, not Shell's direct financial services or its customers. As Shell's core business is not financial services, and no evidence is provided for its direct financial products or services, all KPIs are omitted due to a lack of specific, quantifiable data points for Shell PLC itself regarding its direct involvement in financial services.

Fair Pay & Worker Respect

Shell's CEO-to-median employee pay ratio was 58:1 for the financial year ending December 31, 2023.

In 2024, the company reported a Lost Time Injury Frequency of 0.5 and 2 fatalities. The Serious Injury, Illness and Fatality frequency was 1.5 per 100 million hours. The gender pay gap (mean data) in 2024 varied across subsidiaries, with Shell International Limited at 18.7% and Shell Information Tech Limited at 9.7%. In 2024, the company investigated and substantiated three reports related to workers in the value chain concerning late payment of wages, failure to provide unrestricted access to passports, and recruitment fees. In 2023, Shell remedied late payment of contractor workers’ salaries in Nigeria. Additionally, various subsidiaries faced wage and hour violations between 2012 and 2019, including Equilon Enterprises with penalties of $11,170,000 and $7,750,000 from private lawsuits, and Shell Oil Company with $4,470,764 from the Wage and Hour Division.

Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing

In 2023, Shell Energy's procurement from minority business enterprises (MBE) was 3.75%, women business enterprises (WBE) 1.25%, LGBT business enterprises (LGBTBE) 1.00%, and disabled veteran business enterprises (DVBE) 0.38%.

This totals 6.38% of the procurement budget directed to diverse suppliers. Shell's policy on conflict minerals was considered inadequate, and the company makes products likely to use materials such as tantalum, tin, tungsten, and gold, which are often sourced from areas of armed conflict and human rights abuses. Shell received a 'worst rating for Supply Chain Management' due to a lack of stringent measures to uphold worker rights in its supply chain.

Honest & Fair Business

Shell operates a global helpline for whistleblowers, administered by an independent provider and available in multiple languages, with a policy of non-retaliation.

In 2020, 1,425 reports were made to this helpline. The company has a detailed anti-bribery and corruption manual (ABC Manual) and a Code of Conduct, with training made publicly available and anti-bribery and corruption training for third parties. Shell's Ethics and Compliance Manual (March 2021) outlines policies for ABC, AML, tax evasion prevention, antitrust, data privacy, and trade compliance, including risk assessments, training, reporting, and due diligence. Shell conducts due diligence on counterparties, including checks for previous ABC history, shareholder information, and denied party status. An external review of its decision-making framework is also mentioned.

Kind to Animals

Shell used 58,738 vertebrates in testing in 2023 and 70,882 in 2024, with 99.9% of mammalian testing conducted through industry consortia.

The company's animal testing policy is based on the 4Rs principles (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement, and Responsibility), requires internal justification and approval for studies, and is reviewed twice a year by an external Animal Welfare Panel. Shell advocates for reducing animal use in safety assessments with regulatory bodies, successfully contesting an ECHA decision for a rat study in 2023 by providing existing data. Shell is actively involved in developing and using New Approach Methodologies (NAMs), including using fish cells instead of live animals (OECD Test No. 249), and collaborates with various industry and academic partners on NAMs. Shell's partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) has funded 270 projects since 1998, protecting, restoring, and managing over 155,000 acres of habitat, leveraging $78.8 million for conservation. Shell uses waste biomass and biocomponents from animals bred for food or feed, processing dairy cattle manure at four US facilities. Shell works with suppliers and partners with the National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Animal Care program to ensure animal welfare, referencing ISO/TS 34700:2016 or equivalent standards. Shell reserves the right to conduct independent audits of suppliers.

Planet-Friendly Business

Shell's total Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions were approximately 1.2 billion metric tons of CO2 equivalent in 2024.

The company has a net-zero emissions target year of 2050. Shell's climate-related financial disclosures are consistent with all TCFD Recommendations and Recommended Disclosures. The company uses energy security scenarios, Sky 2050 and Archipelagos, for climate analysis, which are quantified by World Energy Models supplemented with climate analysis done in conjunction with Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2024, 6% of Shell's capital expenditures were aligned with the EU Sustainable Taxonomy. Regarding carbon offsets, 85% of carbon credits were certified by Verra, 9% by the American Carbon Registry, 6% by Gold Standard, and less than 1% via Australian Carbon Credit Units. Shell aims to contribute to a just and inclusive transition, pledging $200 million as part of a broader initiative to help people get access to energy, and supporting the creation of energy transition skills hubs in Scotland and Wales. The company received a $10 million fine for air pollution violations at its ethane cracker facility.

Respect for Cultures & Communities

Shell's affiliate, Carbonext, had partnerships with six Indigenous groups and signed contracts with 12 associations of traditional communities, totaling 18 formal partnerships.

Shell conducts impact assessments for every major project, involving specialists for cultural heritage, and has cultural heritage requirements aligned with international standards. However, allegations suggest a lack of adherence to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) protocols in some projects, and a court ruled Shell failed to meaningfully consult Indigenous communities in South Africa. In Nigeria, 96% of Shell's employees are Nigerian. Community feedback mechanisms are available at 80 sites in 26 countries, and 64% of feedback was resolved within 8 to 14 days in 2023. Allegations suggest low FPIC participation rates, with communities pressured or not understanding contracts. In Peru, indigenous communities are included in the project management committee for the "Living Forests Forever" project, but allegations of lack of community governance inclusion exist in other projects. Shell suspended activities in Albania to allow excavation of cultural sites, but approval was given to Woodside Petroleum (34% owned by Shell) to remove potentially 30,000-year-old Aboriginal rock engravings in Australia. In 2023, 77% of complaints, requests, and questions received by community engagement practitioners were resolved. The Shell Global Helpline is available in 14 languages, but some Indigenous community members did not speak Portuguese and had difficulty understanding documents. Carbonext withdrew from a project after an administrative proceeding was opened to investigate claims. Shell's average course completion rate for cultural sensitivity training is above 75% across all topics within SC Training, and 94% of assigned human rights training was completed by 1,750 employees by end of 2023. In 2023, 83% of spending on goods and services was purchased from suppliers based in the same country of operation.

Safe & Smart Tech

No specific, concrete evidence was found in the provided articles for any of the 'Safe & Smart Tech' KPIs, including data breach severity, AI ethics governance, cybersecurity investment, privacy certifications, security training effectiveness, encryption implementation, AI audit practices, algorithmic transparency, unauthorized data use, user data control, authentication security, vulnerability management, bug bounty effectiveness, privacy by design, security testing coverage, data minimization, regulatory compliance, algorithmic harm remediation, or digital rights advocacy.

The articles primarily contained financial information or explicitly stated that no data was available for these metrics. A general security rating of '93/100' was mentioned, but without specific details on what it measures or how it relates to the individual KPI thresholds, it cannot be used for scoring.