In a verdict handed down this morning, a Dutch appeals court struck down a 2021 ruling ordering oil and gas giant Shell to cut emissions by 45% by 2030 from 2019 levels.
The initial landmark May 2021 court judgmentsubsequently appealed by Shell — one of the world’s largest corporate emitters of fossil fuels — extended to both the company’s own emissions and those produced by people when burning its products, like its gas in their cars.
In its initial ruling, the court stated the oil and gas major should follow the “worldwide agreement” that a 45% net reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030 is necessary to meet the Paris target of limiting global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) to avoid dangerous
“This applies to the entire world, so also to Shell,” the judge said at the time, adding that Shell’s commitments to cut emissions by 20% were insufficient.
Shell quickly appealed that decision, arguing that effective policy not litigation will aid climate action.
During court hearings in April 2024 in The Hague, Shell’s lawyer Daan Lunsingh Scheurleer said that the case had “no legal basis” and “obstructs the role that Shell can and wants to play in the energy transition.”
Friends of the Earth Netherlands (Milieudefensie) and six other organizations filed the case against Shell in 2019 on the grounds the company’s emissions harmed the fundamental rights of 17,000 Dutch citizens by fueling climate change.
The 2021 first instance ruling was deemed “a turning point in history” because it was the first time a judge “ordered a large polluting corporation to comply with the Paris Climate Agreement,” said Roger Cox, lawyer for Friends of the Earth Netherlands at the time.
Shell accused of failing to uphold verdict
The 2021 ruling was effective immediately, meaning that Shell should not continue to expand oil and gas extraction while it waited for its appeal, said Friends of the Earth.
But a report released by Friends of the Earth Netherlands and climate think tank Oil Change International in March 2024 claimed that the company had approved at least 20 “new oil and gas extraction assets” since the ruling.
“Shell continues to plan for levels of oil and gas production and investment that undermine the world’s chances of curtailing climate disaster and are incompatible with holding global temperature rise to 1.5 C,” said the organizations.
Reporting by environmental campaigners Global Witness claimed that a “significant portion” of spending earmarked for “renewable and energy solutions” in 2021 instead went to “investments in climate-wrecking gas.”
About 1.5% of Shell’s total expenditure in 2021 was invested in renewable wind and solar electricity projects, according to the UK-based climate group.
“It is obvious that Shell is currently increasing its emissions,” Nine de Pater, campaigner at Friends of the Earth Netherlands told DW, referring also to “growth in gas.” Emissions reduction commitments made by Shell have been “watered down” in recent years, she added.
But Shell boss Wael Sawan previously refuted claims that the fossil fuel firm’s renewable energy solutions’ accounting is misleading due to the high gas component. That statement came following a that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigate Shell’s renewables segment.
Sawan said in a call with reporters in 2023 that there “had been a real pivot toward energy transition investments.”
In its appeal to the verdict in the Hague, Shell also said it was being unfairly targeted given that climate change is a global problem. It argued it was taking action to cut emissions and denied it had ignored the ruling.
Shell has said in statements that it “invested $5.6 billion on low-carbon solutions, more than 23% of our total capital spending” in 2023.
Worsening climate impacts increase emissions cut urgency
Donald Pols, Director of Friends of the Earth Netherlands, said in a statement just before the verdict was announced that
“[T]he climate crisis has increased in intensity. Floods, wildfires, heat records, and other climate disasters dominate the news. One thing is certain: this decade is crucial for tackling dangerous climate change,” said Pols.
According to the latest published on the first day of the , 2024 is on track to become the hottest year on record. The report also shows 2015-2024 to be the warmest decade since records began.
At the same time, some 96% of oil and gas companies are exploring and developing new reserves across 129 countries, according to data published by German environmental and human rights NGO, Urgewald.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) says no new oil and gas fields or coal mines should be developed if the world is to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and slow planetary heating.
Climate litigation cases ‘fuel’ debate, more legal action
But campaigners remain hopeful. Even if “court cases take a long time, so you don’t see an impact right away,” climate litigation is an “important part of the fight against climate change,” Nine de Pater told DW.
That’s because they “help to fuel debate about the responsibility of polluting companies,” said de Pater, adding that since the 2021 Shell decision, there has been a wave of other climate litigation cases, including in Belgium against Total Energies.
“We clearly saw that some of the arguments that we used in the court case against Shell were very useful in these cases,” said de Pater.
Edited by Jennifer Collins and Tamsin Walker
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