The Guardian view on green finance: doing business as if the planet mattered | Editorial

Climate change is happening, and businesses know it. So why don't company reports show it?

Last week, Shell walked away from 170 million barrels of oil off the coast of Shetland, declaring the economic case for investment" too weak. As might be expected with such a politically sensitive venture, there has been much speculation about what other factors might have been at play, whether pressure from Nicola Sturgeon or from Whitehall. But let's try another question: how did Shell ever decide that there was an economic case? After all, the energy giant does not deny that its entire business will have to change. It advertises its target to become a net zero emissions" company by 2050, publishes a sustainability report" and partners with environmental organisations around the world. Yet little of this environmental awareness shows up in the hard numbers.

The company's latest accounts features this disclaimer: Shell's operating plans, outlooks, budgets and pricing assumptions do not reflect our net zero emissions target." In other words: whatever the oil giant says is not what it thinks.