Shell wins appeal against landmark Dutch climate ruling

STORY: :: Shell wins its appeal against a landmark Dutch climate ruling ordering it to sharply reduce emissions

:: November 12, 2024

:: The Hague, Netherlands

:: Carla Joustra, President of Appeals Court

:: “The appeals court’s final judgment is that Milieudefensie’s claims cannot be granted. Accordingly, the court has overturned the lower court’s judgment.”

:: “Shell has set a specific reduction target for scope 1 and 2 that means its scope 1 and 2 emissions will be reduced by 50% by 2030 compared to 2016. Furthermore, it follows from the documents provided by Shell that it had already achieved a 31% reduction by 2023. So Shell is already doing what Milieudefensie is claiming from it. Milieudefensie’s claim regarding scope 1 and 2 is therefore not admissible.”

The appeals court in The Hague dismissed the entire ruling, saying Shell was already on its way to meet required targets for its own emissions, and it was unclear if demands on it to reduce emissions caused by the use of its products would help the fight against climate change.

The original ruling had ordered Shell to cut its absolute carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels, including those caused by the use of its products.

The court did agree with the climate activists that brought the case in 2019 that Shell has an obligation to cut its greenhouse gas emissions to protect people from global warming.