CAMPAIGNERS called on Labour to impose bolder taxes on climate-wrecking oil firms after Shell announced billions of pounds in profits today.
The fossil-fuel giant revealed profits of £10.9 billion for the first half of the year, following a stronger-than-expected second quarter.
Shell, which has only paid tax in Britain once in the last six years, still earned £4.9bn over the three months to June, despite seeing a slowdown in earnings.
Greenpeace UK campaigner Philip Evans called on Labour to start “reining in the fossil fuel giants and imposing bold new taxes on polluters to force them to pay their climate debts at home and abroad.”
He said: “Shell’s reckless pursuit of profit is causing global climate chaos — and it is planning a new drilling frenzy that will only exacerbate the crisis.”
Judges at The Hague ruled that Shell must reduce its emissions by 45 per cent by 2030.
But the oil giant is now appealing the 2021 ruling while climate groups accuse Shell of failing to take action.
A study by environmental groups Milieudefensie and Oil Change International found that since the ruling, Shell went on to approve the construction of 20 major oil and gas projects, including six in 2023 alone.
Warm This Winter spokeswoman Fiona Waters highlighted that Shell has raked in £84.5bn in profit since the start of the energy crisis while 6.5 million people in Britain are trapped in fuel poverty.
She called on the government to fix Britain’s energy system by restoring the Winter Fuel Payment to some pensioners, introducing support to end energy debt, expanding the Warm Home Discount and extending the Household Support Fund to avoid a winter crisis.
Uplift executive director Tessa Khan said: “People are fed up with our rip-off energy system and want real change that stops oil and gas profiteers from making money off people struggling to make ends meet.”
She added that if Labour delivers on its promises to “turbocharge” investment into green energy and end new oil and gas projects in the North Sea, bills could be lowered for good and Britain may have a shot at reaching its climate targets.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves pledged that the government would increase the Energy Profits Levy by three percentage points and remove a 29 per cent investment allowance in order to draw in more tax revenues.
