Mubasher: Oil and gas major Shell announced plans to set carbon emission targets next year and link them to executive bonuses.

The company is still discussing the percentage to be targeted with investors, but the pay of 1,200 senior employees could be affected, the Financial Times (FT) reported.

This came at the beginning of the COP24 climate talks in Katowice, Poland.

Shell looks to reduce its net carbon footprint by about 50% by 2050, the Anglo-Dutch company said in a joint statement with the leadership group of institutional investors on behalf of Climate Action 100+, a five-year global initiative with over $32 trillion in assets under management.

It would aim to cut its net carbon footprint by nearly 20% by 2035 as an “interim step.”

Moreover, the energy giant would “incorporate a link between energy transition and long-term remuneration,” as a part of a revised remuneration policy and which would be subject to a shareholder vote at its Annual  General Meeting in 2020.

The move came following pressure from shareholders, including the Church of England and Robeco, who “pushed Shell to make firm commitments to cut its carbon footprint,” as reported by the FT.

 “Meeting the challenge of tackling climate change requires unprecedented collaboration and this is demonstrated by our engagements with investors,” Shell’s CEO Ben van Beurden said in a statement.

“We are taking important steps towards turning our net carbon footprint ambition into reality by setting shorter-term targets,” Beurden added.