DR CHRIS FAY of Shell UK is correct when he says that there is an increasing mistrust of governmental and commercial institutions. This is not because the public at large is either stupid or bloody-minded, but because multinational companies in particular are prone to behave with insensitivity to local and environmental issues while simultaneously assuring themselves and everyone else that their record on these matters is spotless.
Dr Fay is to be congratulated on his apparent recognition of this, even if it was rather forced to his attention by Shell's debacle on the attempted disposal of the Brent Spar drilling rig. In many respects this is not the best example of his thesis because Shell believes that its original decision to dispose of Brent Spar in deep water was correct, and that opinion is now supported by many environmentalists.
Nevertheless, the company was run ragged by Greenpeace, which successfully convinced most people that the deep-water disposal was a bad idea.
Shell, in the person of its chairman and chief executive, now says that it tended to try to communicate at a technical level rather than in ways the public would understand. We hope that this does not mean that Shell's solution to the problem is simply to construct a more understandable image for these occasions.
We will give Dr Fay the benefit of the doubt for now because he also has interesting things to say about convincing people that big companies are not just about profit at all costs. An environmental and citizen-friendly multinational oil company is an interesting concept.
We wish him well in his attempt to create one but will reserve judgment.
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