For an industry used to cautious, long-term evolution, the speed at which leaders of Europe’s biggest oil and gas companies moved to take a joint stand in the climate debate speaks volumes. Discrete talks in the eyrie of Davos in January led to a spontaneous, light bulb moment on a stage in Oslo in February. The result: a joint statement two months later. The executives agreed they had to go public, and with alacrity. Faced with growing pressure from shareholders, vocal divestment campaigns by the media and advocacy groups, there looms the critical moment of the United Nations climate summit in Paris in December. The industry campaign will speed up before then. “In the past we thought it was better to keep a low profile on the issue. I understand that tactic, but in the end it’s not a good tactic,” Shell CEO Ben van Beurden told his […]