Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Actors / Company · United Kingdom

Shell

Appears in 31 cases in this database. Roles as given in the documented record.

CaseRoleCountryPeriodInstrument
Cordillera Azul National Park carbon projectCredit buyerPeru2008–2026Carbon credits
Rainforest credits investigationNamed credit buyerGlobal2009–2023Carbon credits
Salem tankerCargo owner (Shell International Petroleum); claimant against cargo underwritersSenegal (offshore)1979–1985Staged loss / scuttling
Plant-for-the-Planet: 13.6 billion trees1t.org pledger (2021 list)Germany / Global2011–2024Tree planting
Shell Rocky Mountain Arsenal insurance casePolicyholder; co-payer of Arsenal cleanupUnited States1987–2010Insurance declined or withdrawn
Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Nine; Wiwa v ShellOperator through SPDC; defendant in Wiwa v Shell and the Dutch case; sold SPDC in 2025Nigeria1958–2026Oil spill
Alliance to End Plastic Waste and Renew Oceans (Ganges)Founding member; named among five members compared by UnearthedIndia2019–2026Plastic waste and recycling claims
Groningen gas fieldClaimant in arbitration against the NetherlandsNetherlandsdate not statedOil, gas and coal operations
Shell Nigeria pipeline spill ruling (Hague Court of Appeal, 2021)Parent group of Shell NigeriaNigeria2021–2022Oil spill
Niger Delta oil spills and sabotage attribution (Shell, Eni)Operator through SPDC; sold SPDC in 2025Nigeria2008–2022Oil spill
Hill & Knowlton, the Frank Statement and the TIRCClient at the time of COP27United States1953–2022Lobbying, PR and greenwashing
Norway Longship and Northern Lights CCS; SleipnerNorthern Lights partnerNorway1991–2025Carbon capture and climate intervention
Edelman: API contract, Energy Citizens and the COP30 contractClient in 2025 per the recordUnited States2005–2026Carbon credits
Quest CCS (Shell, Alberta)Facility ownerCanada2015–2020Carbon capture and climate intervention
Shell nature-based solutions and carbon-neutral driving adsFuel seller; advertiser of carbon-neutral driving; author of the Sky 1.5 scenarioNetherlands2019–2023Carbon credits
Shell and Greenpeace settle Penguins FPSO case; Greenpeace pays RNLI £300,000ClaimantUnited Kingdom2023–2024Killings and repression of defenders
Germany rejects 215,000 carbon credits from Chinese oil-sector projectsNamed among companies that used the credits, as reportedGermany2024Carbon credits
Shell's 2022 stake in Brazilian REDD+ developer Carbonextbought a minority stake in Carbonext in 2022Brazil2022Carbon credits
Shell buys Australian carbon-farming firm Select Carbon in August 2020acquirer of Select CarbonAustralia2020–2023Carbon credits
Gorgon LNG carbon storage fell short; gap closed with creditsGorgon partner (IEEFA)Australia2006Carbon capture and climate intervention
Shell reserves overstatement case: investors settle for $352.6 millioncompany whose reserves were restatedUnited States2006Law, regulation and treaties
Court cancels Shell's Wild Coast seismic exploration rightsHolder of the seismic exploration rightsSouth Africa2022–2024Law, regulation and treaties
Milan court acquits Eni and Shell in Nigeria corruption caseDefendant, acquittedItaly2021Law, regulation and treaties
Hill & Knowlton and Edelman: PR for fossil fuel clients and climate summitsagency clientEgypt2005–2025Lobbying, PR and greenwashing
Shell's 1.5C scenario relied on 700 million hectares of new forestauthor of the Sky 1.5 scenario; offered carbon-neutral drivingGlobal2019–2021Law, regulation and treaties
Brazil REDD+ forest credits: Suruí project suspended; 2024 Amazonas concessions probedminority investor in CarbonextBrazil2013–2026Carbon credits
COP28 decision promoted carbon capture and left room for transition fuelsMember of the Global CCS InstituteUnited Arab Emirates2023Carbon capture and climate intervention
Producers funded 90% of EDF's 2013 methane study, HPPR reportedProducer funder of the studyUnited States2013Water use
Corporate suits against Greenpeace (TotalEnergies, Shell, Resolute)Claimant against Greenpeace UK and Greenpeace InternationalFrance, United Kingdom, United States2019–2024Killings and repression of defenders
Brazil: Operation GreenwashingReported to hold a stake in CarbonextBrazil2024–2025Carbon credits
Ogoniland and Bodo spills clean-up (SPDC, HYPREP)Parent of SPDC; halted Ogoniland production in 1993; sold SPDC to Renaissance in March 2025Nigeria1958–2026Oil spill
Appears alongside
TotalEnergies ×6Verra ×5ExxonMobil ×4UN Environment Programme ×3Eni ×3NNPC ×3Exxon Corporation (ExxonMobil from 1999) ×3Greenpeace ×3Carbonext ×3Federal Police (Brazil) ×3Chevron ×3SPDC (Shell's Nigerian subsidiary) ×2HYPREP (Ogoni clean-up agency) ×2Amnesty International ×2Hill & Knowlton ×2Saudi Aramco ×2Edelman ×2American Petroleum Institute ×2Dutch Advertising Code Committee (Reclame Code Commissie) ×2CIMA Cordillera AzulGucciNetflixDisneyeasyJetLloyd's of LondonOxford Shipping Inc.Pontoil SAStrategic Fuel Fund AssociationPlant-for-the-PlanetGerman Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and DevelopmentCrowther Lab, ETH ZurichWorld Economic ForumFrontera EnergyAdani GroupWinterthur Swiss Insurance Co.US ArmyRenaissanceAlliance to End Plastic WasteDowBASFSABICProcter & GambleChevron Phillips ChemicalPlanet TrackerDutch stateNAMShell Nigeria (SPDC)Tobacco Industry Research CommitteeWPPPlastics Industry AssociationEquinorVibra EnergiaDP WorldClean CreativesGlobal WitnessGreenpeace CanadaRoyal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI)Umweltbundesamt (German Federal Environment Agency)ZDFMinistério Público FederalSelect CarbonGovernment of Western AustraliaAustralian federal governmentUS Securities and Exchange CommissionLegal Resources CentrePetrobrasGovernment of BrazilNaturaFIFAFuture CarbonAmazonas state governmentBPAbu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC)Global CCS InstituteCarbon Capture CoalitionEnvironmental Defense FundResolute Forest ProductsSigma LithiumBoeingToshibaSpotifyNestléPwCGOL
Terms used on this page

Carbon and conservation finance

Carbon credit
A certificate representing one tonne of carbon dioxide (or equivalent) that a project says it reduced, avoided or removed. Buyers use credits to balance their own emissions in climate claims.

Insurance

Underwriter
An insurer, or a person at an insurer, who assesses a risk and decides whether and on what terms to insure it.

Law and courts

Arbitration
A private dispute process in which an appointed arbitrator, instead of a court, decides the case.