Villiers Shell shareholding shows government failing to tackle climate crisis, say Green Party

Reacting to the revelation that former Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers had a substantial shareholding in oil giant Shell during her time in the Cabinet [1], Green co-leader Adrian Ramsay said:

"Of course it's unacceptable that the former Secretary of State didn't register the shares when her holding increased in value. However, what was the person in government with responsibility to deliver its key environment policies - including moving us away from fossil fuels - doing with shares in Shell at all?

“You have to question how serious the Conservatives are in tackling the climate crisis when the Cabinet contains people deriving financial benefit from fossil fuel company shares of any value.

"We need representatives in Parliament focussed on freeing us from our dependence on oil and gas which is destroying our planet and instead investing in the energy sources of the future - wind, sun and water.

"Investing in renewable energy now will create sustainable green jobs and support workers in the oil and gas industry to transfer their skills and experiences to the energy sources of the future."

NOTES

1 https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/top-tory-theresa-villiers-70k-30675878