Oil giant Shell wins appeal against landmark Dutch climate ruling to slash emissions

A Dutch court on Tuesday ruled to dismiss a landmark climate ruling against Shell, after the oil giant was ordered to drastically reduce its global carbon emissions back in 2021.

The outcome, which comes during the opening days of the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan, marks the latest twist in a precedent-setting case that could have far-reaching implications for the future of climate litigation.

The appeals court in The Hague said that while Shell is required to reduce its carbon emissions, it could not determine the extent of these cuts. The case against Shell, therefore, was dismissed entirely.

In May 2021, The Hague district court ruled that Shell must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 45% from 2019 levels by 2030.

The verdict, which came when Shell had its headquarters in The Hague, also said the company was responsible for all emissions across its value chain, including those from the products they sell — known as Scope 3 emissions.

It was the first time in history that a company was found to have been legally obliged to align its policies with the Paris Agreement, a framework which seeks to avoid the worst of what the climate crisis has in store by limiting the average global temperature increase to between 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius.

The ruling was regarded as a watershed moment in the climate battle and sparked a wave of lawsuits against other fossil fuel companies.

Shell appealed the 2021 decision and subsequently moved its headquarters to the U.K., a relocation that was criticized for being partly motivated by the courtroom defeat. The Hague district court ruling is only legally binding in the Netherlands.

In appeal hearings held earlier this year, the British oil major argued that the case had no legal basis.

Shell’s lawyers said demands for companies to curb greenhouse gas emissions could not be made by courts, but only by governments, Reuters reported. The company also said the court ruling would force it to shrink its business without any benefit to the fight against climate change.

The case was brought against Shell in 2019 by Milieudefensie, an environmental campaign group and the Dutch branch of Friends of the Earth, alongside six other bodies and more than 17,000 Dutch citizens.

The burning of coal, oil and gas is by far the largest contributor to the climate crisis, accounting for more than three-quarters of global greenhouse gas emissions.

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