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)
Cases / Carbon credits · Australia · 2020–2023

Shell buys Australian carbon-farming firm Select Carbon in August 2020

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 1 none on record · 3 insufficient · 1 not measured · 1 disputed See the gaps

Shell announced in August 2020 that it would acquire Select Carbon, an Australian carbon-farming company. Shell later dropped its offset targets in October 2023, including a target of 120 million tonnes by 2030.

What?
Shell bought Select Carbon, an Australian carbon-farming company, in 2020. Shell Australia
Where?
Australia Boiling Cold
When?
August 2020 announcement; offset targets dropped October 2023 Shell Australia
Who?
Gained
  • Shell — ownership of Select Carbon's carbon-farming schemes Shell Australia
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Acquisition of the whole company, Select Carbon. Shell Australia
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Shell announced in August 2020 that it would acquire Select Carbon, an environmental services company, according to its press release.

Boiling Cold reported on 3 August 2020 that Select Carbon, which Shell had bought, managed 56 carbon-farming schemes in Australia.

Reuters, reported through PGJ, said in October 2023 that Shell had abandoned its offset targets of 100 million dollars a year and 120 million tonnes by 2030.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: Select Carbon had more than 70 schemes covering about 9 million hectares.
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: Shell planned to spend 200 million dollars on nature-based solutions over two years.
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: Shell decided in 2024 to sell most of its nature-based business.
    • None on record Not stated in the sources reviewed: the price Shell paid for Select Carbon.
    • Disputed Scheme counts differ across the sources: 56 in one reported count, more than 70 in another that is not verified.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: ✓ Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Company or project

    Press and investigations

    1. Shell goes carbon farming in Australia
      Boiling Cold · 2020-08-03
    2. Shell abandons carbon offset targets
      PGJ (Reuters) · 2023-10

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

    Carbon and conservation finance

    Offset
    Using carbon credits to balance emissions released elsewhere, so that a buyer can claim lower or zero net emissions.

    Science and environment

    Hectare (ha)
    A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.

    Law and courts

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

    Insurance

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