Speaker

Karen Westley is Shell’s Vice-President for Carbon and Environment and Downstream Safety, Environment and Asset Management. She has a BS in Human Biology from Stanford University and an MSc from Yale University in Tropical Ecology. She spent her early career working for a large international humanitarian organization: CARE International. She then joined the Shell Foundation in 2001, as part of the startup team, designing and implementing the Foundation’s strategy and managing energy and poverty programmes. She moved to Shell in 2005 and has held a wide range of leadership roles in sustainability, starting in social performance where she was Social Performance Manager and Head of Social Investment then moving to the commercial part of Shell - setting up a team and capability to manage the non-technical risks and opportunities associated with Shell’s Integrated Gas business, and leading the development of innovative value propositions across the gas value chain, including new energies. She then held a role as Global Carbon Solutions Manager for Shell and Global Opportunity Manager for Carbon Capture and Storage, most recently she was the Vice-President for Environment where she embedded Respecting Nature as a key pillar of Shell’s strategy. She lives in Kuala Lumpur with her two daughters.