OPEN LETTER TO BEN VAN BEURDEN & OIL MAJOR CEOs AND EXECUTIVES: UKRAINE FURTHER PROVES THAT WE MUST TRANSITION AWAY FROM FOSSIL FUELS NOW

Mr. Ben van Beurden, I write to you to say I deeply appreciate the reflection and actions that you are taking on as CEO of Shell regarding the #RussianInvasion of #Ukraine.

Like you and I, it appears ever more humans are awakening to the appaling sight of fire and destruction. It is in this spirit appreciation that you share in your LinkedIn post that i ask you to please take the warning of UN #SecretaryGeneral #AntonioGuterres, UN Staff like Roberta Boscolo, and the vast movement of millions of citizens, scientists, and leaders of all sectors who are increasingly appalled by the inability or unwillingness of the #OilMajors such as Shell, #Petrobras, #ARAMCO, #Total, and all others to awaken to the fact that the suffering we are seeing TODAY in Ukraine is, sadly, nothing in comparison to the suffering that tens, hundreds, and possibly even thousands of millions of humans (and trillions of other sentient beings) will face in the decades ahead if we do not transition immediately away from #FossilFuels and into a #Renewables based world.

Mr. van Beurden. I have lost my relationship with my daughter, my immediate and extended family, have not married, have lived on under a dollar or two a day for months, even years at a time, and have worked on my own for over 20 years to try and change a system that is morally, ecologically, and psychologically bankrupt. Yet others have suffered far more — insanity, persecution, torture, even death — for trying to speak truth to power.

How long will it take for you and your fellow CEOs and the hundreds of thousands of oil executives and professionals — and of politicians and political leaders who subsidize the oil industry — to fully understand that it is literally becoming a matter of life or death for humanity, nature, and civilization as we know it, to harness the incredible wealth and power that you all control to rapidly transition into non-renewables?

Perhaps the courage of Mr. and Mrs. Zelensky and their children can inspire you and your loved ones (and other #HydrocarbonCEOs) to make a truly bold, radical, and dramatically necessary change.

Mr. Van Beurden — is your decision regarding #Gazprom and #Nordstream not the perfect opportunity to take an even bolder move to accelerate a complete transition, in the briefest period of time possible, away from #FossilFuels? Is it not possible for the well-paid, talented, intelligent staff of Shell to find the creativity and capacity to lead such a transition? Tens of millions of professionals have had to re-skill to survive… can’t you and your colleagues re-skill rapidly to ensure the survival of humanity?

Frankly, in at least one way, the blind, unreflexive actions of the leaders of the worlds biggest oil companies are seen by millions of us common citizens, to be as increasingly lethal, destructive, callous, #ecocidal, and #genocidal as those of #Putin and his generals in #Ukraine … with the only difference that the insanity being unleashed by the #RussianMilitary can be seen in a very short period of time by billions of humans, whereas #ClimateCollapse (and the biocide, ecocide, and genocide that is being unleashed by this foreseeable and preventable tragedy) is moving at a slower pace. Albeit not that slow either — as vast evidence provided over decades, increasingly precise scientific studies, and the devastating images and realities of suffering by the millions already affected by #ExtremeWeather already show.

Mr. van Beurden, i write to you openly, with the deepest feeling of kindness and love for the entire human race and for all living beings. I am not angry, nor am i trying to assign blame, to rant or to make you or anyone feel bad. I condemn no one. I simply ask you, and your fellow CEOs and colleagues from the #OilIndustry to look deeply into the facts, trends, and realities that millions of world leaders, scientists, and citizens (and your own experts) know to be true.

Your moment of vulnerability and openess regarding the fire, brutality, and death we are all witnessing in #Ukraine perhaps can provide us both — as two ultimately simple human beings — with this brief chance to communicate directly. Perhaps this little opening can also reach the hearts of your colleagues at #Shell, Petrobras, aramco, Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical Company (SATORP), and others across the oil industry.

If you truly are appalled at what is happening in Ukraine, please look deeply into your heart and into the realities of the #ClimateCrisis, #EcosystemCollapse, #BiodiversityLoss, #PlasticPollutionCrisis, #RunawayAuthoritarianism, #GovernanceDeficits, — and other #hydrocarbon-related tragedies.

We humans have been given a miraculous, blessed home to live in and to care for. Let’s awaken our individual and collective consciousness to take better care of our only home.

Cochabamba, March 2, 2022