GREENPEACE CALLS ON SHELL AT AGM TO BUILD MEGA SOLAR FACTORY

9 May 2000

DEN HAAG -- Eighty Greenpeace shareholders in Shell will make a request to the company, at its annual general meeting today, to invest in a large-scale solar panel factory which would make solar energy price competitive with electricity produced from burning fossil fuels, a major cause of climate change.

More than 700 Shell shareholders have expressed support for Greenpeace’s proposal and have given Greenpeace representatives their proxy votes and the right to attend the meeting to represent them.. For the meeting the Greenpeace activists will be dressed in suits bearing the Greenpeace logo on the back.

"All over the world Shell is advertising their green credentials yet their renewable energy investment is miniscule at 0.6 per cent of their total annual investment, Shell will have to do much more to convince shareholders and consumers that it is serious about tackling climate change," said Greenpeace International energy solutions campaigner Dr. Karl Mallon.

Last week Shell announced that Greenpeace could only send two representatives to the shareholders meeting despite the fact that the environmental organisation is the temporary owner of 4400 shares, valued at 250,000 EUROS. On Wednesday Greenpeace will sell the Shell shares, and by using share futures and options will make neither a profit or loss on the transaction.

At the meeting Greenpeace will make a request to Shell to invest in a mega solar factory. A report by international business consultants and accountancy firm KPMG calculates that one large-scale solar PV factory which produces five million solar panels a year (equivalent to 250,000 homes, each with a two kilo watt system) could reduce the cost of solar power by a factor of four making it price competitive for domestic consumers with electricity produced from fossil fuels. KPMG calculated that the return of investment on solar panels would be 15 percent, which is considerably higher than the return on investment on Shell’s gas and oil activities.

A market for this level of production of solar panels would equate to; in the UK less than 0.3 per cent of existing roof area of domestic housing and less than 40 per cent for annual new properties, in the US 20 per cent of new housing and in the Netherlands 2 per cent of existing housing – equivalent to all new housing.

After the publication of the Greenpeace proposal Shell announced that the oil company has solar energy already on its agenda. The annual figures (1999) show a different situation. Shells’total investment was $US9.5 billion. Only $US58 million is invested in renewable energy. Shells market share on solar energy is only 2 per cent

The request to Shell follows a resolution, initiated by Greenpeace and 100 British and American shareholders, to BP Amoco at its annual general last month to abandon oil drilling in the Arctic ocean and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and redirect funds into the company’s solar division. The resolution, expected to get less than one per cent of the shareholder vote, gained an unprecedented 13.5 per cent.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

- Dr. Karl Mallon +31 20 523 6291
- Jon Walter +31 20 523 6608