Shell director Marjan Van Loon leaves | Economie

Van Loon has worked for the company for 34 years. I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved in the Netherlands in recent years. We supply energy to the Netherlands on a daily basis, and that is increasingly cleaner energy,” Van Loon wrote in a press release. In response, the company said Van Loon has decided to let himself go. “It is looking forward to embarking on other paths. No concrete plans yet, but the good intentions are more than that, according to the caption.

Under her leadership, the oil company says, it was the first major company to support the climate agreement. To this end, Shell has decided to invest approximately 6.5 billion euros in energy transformation. Many plants have also been built for cleaner fuels, such as biofuels and hydrogen. Shell recently received permission to build a wind farm in the North Sea.

Van Loon had a turbulent year as head of Shell’s Dutch branch. In 2018, for example, there was outrage over an agreement between Shell and the tax authorities regarding the payment of dividend tax. The agreements were made when the company merged its Dutch and British parent companies. By paying dividends henceforth through a trust in the Jersey Channel, the oil and gas company prevented persons who previously owned shares in the British branch from paying dividend tax in the Netherlands.

At the time, Van Loon called it “incorrect” and “complete nonsense”. According to her, Shell has always been transparent in its annual reports. She also said that because of this agreement, Shell was headquartered in the Netherlands, which she believed brought many benefits to the Dutch economy.

In the end, Shell’s headquarters moved to the UK. This made the group entirely British on paper. As a result, “Royal Dutch Shell” lost its royal predicate, which had been associated with the group since the end of the 19th century.

Frans Everts, a Groningen-born commercial economist, takes over from Van Loon. He has worked at Shell for 33 years, in various capacities around the world. His current responsibilities include global communications within Shell. In his new role, he says he wants to continue working on the energy transition in the Netherlands. “We have the knowledge and experience to invest in solutions. But we can’t do it alone. Together with partners, we want to make cleaner energy accessible to all of the Netherlands.”

In the eyes of Marc van Pal, who is trying to make oil companies greener with Follow This shareholders, Marjan van Loon is “the green face of Shell Netherlands”, but he is critical of Shell’s policy. Shell’s global policy is to hold on to oil and gas for as long as possible, as investments in oil and gas show. In 2022, Shell’s investments in renewable energy will be at a maximum of 14 percent, possibly much lower. according to A universal witness Shell’s investments in renewable energy reached just 1.5 per cent in 2021. Shell’s investments in fossils continue to overshadow investments in renewables. Van Baal of Follow This, which has supported Shell for years to adhere to the Paris Agreement and put its full weight behind the energy transition, says:

Milieudefensie is particularly hopeful that the new Shell Nederland manager will make different choices than his predecessor Marjan van Loon. “With the appointment of a new director for Holland, we see an opportunity for a different policy. We hope he will seize this moment to stop the plan to drill for gas in the Wadden Sea,” says expedition leader Nine de Pater.

The change in management in the Netherlands is not the first change that has taken place under new CEO Wael Sawan, who succeeded Ben van Beurden as CEO of Shell at the beginning of this year. Sawan Company recently announced its desire to reduce the number of board members from nine to seven people. As a result, we can focus on enhancing the performance of the business unit and achieving high returns for our shareholders.

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