Chef and environmental campaigner Jamie Oliver is accused of betraying young fans after signing £5m deal with oil giant Shell
- Chef will update the food on offer at service stations after sealing agreement
- Critics say that the deal shows he is not taking environmental issues seriously
- Insider at his HQ says that staff have ‘made their displeasure clear’ to him
- Campaigners angered at the deal with one of world’s top 10 carbon emitters
Jamie Oliver (pictured on This Morning on December 14) has been accused of not taking green issues seriously over the Shell deal
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has sealed a £5million deal with oil giant Shell, leading to accusations he does not take environmentalism seriously despite his campaigning.
The restaurant chain owner’s empire lost £20million last year but he will now update food on offer at service stations owned by one of the world’s top 10 carbon emitters.
The 43-year-old has angered politicians as well as his own staff by sealing to agreement with the group, which has reportedly been responsible for 1.67 per cent of the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions since 1988.
Labour’s Cardiff North MP Anna McMorrin has led criticism against Mr Oliver.
The Environmental Audit Committee member said the message he puts out it of particular interest given his popularity with young people, Mirror Online reports.
She said that he is ‘promoting something that exploits fossil fuel’ and as a result is not taking green issues seriously.
The chef’s own staff at his HQ are unhappy about the deal with Shell, which turned a £4.3billion profit last year, an insider told the site.
The chef has come under fire following his deal with Shell (pictured – one of its branches in North London)
The announcement that Mr Oliver would be working with the oil giant came following a difficult year for his Italian restaurant chain (pictured, one of his eateries in Dublin)
A source claimed that ‘Jamie went into it with the best intentions – to improve the food in service stations’ but said ‘some people’ made ‘their displeasure’ clear.
Mr Oliver was heralded as an ‘environmental champion’ three years ago on the United Nations Environment Programme’s website after he teamed up with the group.
At the time he tweeted: ‘Guys, if we don’t act on #ClimateChange, none of the #GlobalGoals can happen. This is everyone’s problem.’
In 2009 he billed Jamie’s American Road Trip on Channel 4 as TV’s first carbon neutral series.
He met with the Green Party as his team of experts ensured concluded that 242.6 tonnes of CO2 was generated from land and air travel as well as hotel accommodation.
After crossing six state son the trip he invested in environmental projects, including a wind farm in China and an Indian solar plant.
Shell (pictured, the firm’s logo) was named as one of the planet’s top 10 carbon emitters and Mr Oliver’s deal with them has resulted in accusations that he doesn’t take green issues as seriously as he should
At the time he said that his company was ‘serious’ about working to stop climate change.
Calling it his ‘duty to stand up’, he said that it was right to help safeguard the world’s future after flying film crews around the globe.
His agreement with Shell follows a cash crisis at his firm after earlier this year his Italian restaurant chain found itself hours from bankruptcy.
Jamie’s Italian was saved when the chef pumped nearly £13million of his own money into the business.
Since then he has shut 12 of the 37 restaurants and has made 600 of his staff redundant. MailOnline has contacted Mr Oliver for a comment.