CEO of Shell Paid £8m Package: A-Level Business In The News

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What's the story?

Shell's new CEO Wael Sawan received a pay package worth nearly £8 million in his first year leading the energy giant, though slightly less than his predecessor's compensation.

Environmental groups criticised the high pay amid high energy costs for workers.

Separately, Shell announced it was scaling back one of its carbon reduction targets, citing "uncertainty" around the pace of the energy transition. The company plans to reduce the carbon intensity of the energy it sells by 15-20% by 2030, down from a previous 20% target.

It also dropped a 45% reduction goal for 2035.

Shell said it will now focus more on providing electricity to business customers rather than households under a "value over volume" strategy. The moves draw parallels to rival BP also recently scaling back its emissions cutting plans.

The high compensation for energy executives has faced criticism amid windfall profits for companies after the spike in oil and gas prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

CEO of Shell paid £8m package