Oil giant Shell has won a landmark appeal in the Dutch courts, overturning an earlier ruling that required the company to cut its carbon emissions by 45%.
The Hague Court of Appeal concluded that while Shell has a duty to limit emissions for the public good, it could not establish a specific “social standard of care” obliging Shell to achieve a 45% reduction. This decision reverses the 2021 ruling that marked the first time a private company was ordered to align its emissions with the Paris climate agreement, following a case brought by Friends of the Earth Netherlands and 17,000 Dutch citizens.
The ruling coincides with global climate talks involving around 200 nations in Azerbaijan. Shell expressed satisfaction with the decision, while Friends of the Earth Netherlands called it a setback and is considering taking the case to the Supreme Court, though a final verdict could take years. “It’s a marathon, not a sprint,” said Donald Pols of Friends of the Earth.
The appeals court judge acknowledged that companies like Shell are obligated to contribute to climate change mitigation based on the right to protection from dangerous climate impacts. However, the court noted Shell is already working to reduce emissions and concluded there is no accepted scientific consensus on the exact percentage reduction required.
Shell argued that it is making substantial efforts to lower emissions and criticized the initial ruling for targeting a single company for a global issue. The company stated that if faster progress is desired, people should lobby governments to implement policy changes rather than holding individual companies accountable for global emissions.
Shell has committed to reducing the carbon intensity of its products by 15-20% by 2030 from a 2016 baseline and aims to achieve “net zero” emissions by 2050.
This ruling could have significant implications for corporate climate responsibility, as environmental groups worldwide pursue legal action to hold corporations and governments accountable to climate accords.
