Anglo-Dutch oil group Shell Plc has won an appeal in a Dutch court, overturning a landmark 2021 ruling that ordered it to reduce emissions faster than expected. This is a significant setback for radical environmental pressure groups and activists seeking climate justice through the courts.
Shell has an obligation to reduce its emissions, but it is already doing so and there is no way to determine precisely what percentage reduction should apply to oil and gas companies, the judges said in a ruling handed down in The Hague. A lower court previously ruled that Shell must reduce its emissions by 45% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels, in a case brought by local environmental group Milieudefensie. A reduction of 4% per year which, in the absence of available technology allowing the intensity of gas emissions to be quickly divided, would have imposed a de facto equivalent reduction in the group's gas and oil production.
Shell argued in its appeal that the court-imposed emissions targets had no legal basis and would be an ineffective and counterproductive way to achieve its 2050 net-zero emissions target. supported this position. The case can be appealed to the Supreme Court of the Netherlands.
