The Washington Post April 22, 1998, Wednesday, Final Edition SECTION: FINANCIAL; Pg. C13 Shell Leaves Coalition That Opposes Global Warming Treaty Martha M. Hamilton, Washington Post Staff Writer Royal Dutch/Shell Group yesterday dealt a blow to oil industry efforts to fight the Kyoto Treaty by withdrawing from a coalition of oil companies, automakers, electric utilities and others opposed to the treaty's terms for reducing global warming. Mark Moody-Stuart, who becomes chief executive of Shell on July 1, said in London that the world's largest publicly traded oil company had decided not to renew its membership in the Global Climate Coalition at the end of this year because of a fundamental difference of opinion. Shell supports ratification of the treaty, which would restrain increases in fossil fuel emissions that have been blamed for global warming. The move by Shell comes at a time when a growing number of major oil company executives have begun focusing on how to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases rather than debating whether fossil fuels are changing the world's climate. It also underscores the differences between companies based in the United States and their counterparts based in Europe, where more of a consensus exists over the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Shell had come under criticism in the past for its membership in the coalition, but as recently as February, Moody-Stuart had said the company would remain to take part in the debate there. Last week, however, after a meeting with the coalition leadership, the company decided to call it quits. Gail McDonald, president of the coalition, said she met with Shell officials last week when they came in to discuss the coalition's strategic plan. "Since they support ratification, they felt we had a serious divergence of views, which we did," she said. "We're disappointed," she said. "We always hate to lose a member, but we certainly understand it if they differ from us on a major issue." McDonald said the coalition also has lost the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers as a member but has added others to its rolls in recent months. "This is a real-world example of another company turning a potential threat into a market opportunity," said Michael Marvin of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy, whose members include natural gas marketers and other companies that may benefit from the move to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. "Coming from a fossil-fuel business, Shell's message goes beyond the oil industry. It goes to all of the traditional industries in saying, 'Let's figure out how to deal with this.' " Shell's statement about the coalition was made during a news conference releasing a report assessing the company's financial, environmental and social performance. The report was prompted in part by criticism the company has encountered for its operations in Nigeria, where the government has jailed and executed political opponents, as well as a decision several years ago, which was later rescinded, to dump the Brent Spar offshore oil platform at sea. Among other things, the report noted that Shell fired 23 employees last year for soliciting or accepting bribes and spent $32 million on community projects in Nigeria.