UPDATED: Oil and gas company Shell won an appeal in the Netherlands on Tuesday after the company was ordered to significantly reduce its greenhouse gas emissions in 2021. This is reported by the news agency Reuters.
The appeals court is rejecting the entire 2021 ruling, which was described as groundbreaking and a victory for the environmental groups that took the case to court. The 2021 ruling ruled that Shell should reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent compared to 2019 levels. This was to happen by 2030.
But on Tuesday, the judges reached a different decision after four days of hearings in April, where Shell and environmental groups presented their arguments. According to the AFP news agency on Tuesday, the judges said that "Shell is already doing what is expected".
The ruling does establish that Shell has a responsibility to protect people from the consequences of climate change. But in 2021 it went too far, it says.
- Even though Shell, as a large oil and gas company, has a special responsibility, this does not mean that we can allow a general reduction target of 45 percent to apply, says judge Carla Joustra.
Shell welcomes the ruling
Shell's CEO, Wael Sawan, welcomes the ruling. According to Reuters, he says that it was "the right ruling for the global energy transition, the Netherlands and our company".
Shell has argued during the case that the 2021 ruling in the Netherlands would force the company to reduce its business without benefiting the environment. Customers would simply look elsewhere, it said.
Shell has also said that demands to reduce emissions should come from states - not courts. The company has also previously said that the company will invest around $10 to $15 billion in "low-CO2 energy solutions" in the period 2023 to 2025.
There is disappointment among environmental groups.
- This hurts, says the director of the environmental group Milieudefensie, Doland Pols.
It was the group that brought the case to court in 2019.
- At the same time, this case has also shown that large polluters are not above the law, says Pols.
Tuesday's ruling coincides with negotiations by about 200 countries at the COP29 climate conference. According to Reuters, it could end up in the Dutch Supreme Court. But Milieudefensie has not yet said whether the group will now try to go to the Supreme Court. When the case was brought against Shell, a British company, the company had its headquarters in The Hague.
/ritzau/
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