Despite Its Pledges, Shell Funded Anti-Climate Lobbying Last Year The oil giant belonged to one group that pushed for a rule designed to preempt banks' policies against lending for Arctic drilling and coal mining. By Luke Barratt and Alexander C. Kaufman Royal Dutch Shell vowed last September to reach net-zero carbon pollution in its business by 2050. The goal was vague but notable, and seemed to become more realistic when the corporation announced earlier this month that its crude oil production had peaked in 2019 and would likely never increase again. Yet while Shell abandons the outright climate obstructionism it once espoused, the oil giant has continued to fund a network of lobbying groups that fight policies to curb planet-heating emissions and rein in new drilling.