Shell chief to head renewable energy task force

Shell chief to head renewable energy task force

BY SEAN HEALY

The chairperson of oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has been chosen to co-chair a new global task force on renewable energy.

At its July summit in Okinawa, the G8 (group of eight rich, industrialised nations) appointed Shell's Sir Mark Moody-Stuart and Italian environment ministry director-general Dr Corrado Clini as joint chiefs of a task force which will report to next year's summit in Genoa, Italy.

In their July 23 communique, G8 leaders called on all stakeholders to identify the barriers and solutions to elevating the level of renewable energy supply and distribution in developing countries.

"We must all work to preserve a clean and sound environment for our children and grandchildren", the leaders said in their communique. "We are strongly committed to close cooperation among ourselves and with developing countries, to resolve as soon as possible all major outstanding issues, with a view to early entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol" on limiting climate change-causing emissions, particularly from the burning of fossil fuels like oil.

Environmentalists have described the G8's appointment of Moody-Stuart as akin to putting a fox in charge of the chicken coop.

From GLW issue 416