The Hague – Second defeat in a few months for Royal Dutch Shell. A court in The Hague has ordered the Dutch oil giant to reduce its CO2 emissions by 45% by 2030, in line with the goal of keeping the average global temperature rise to within 1.5 degrees Celsius. The sentence follows that three months ago against Shell itself regarding its policy in Nigeria: the population of the Niger Delta, over 40,000 people, claimed that decades of pollution linked to oil extraction had had a serious impact on life. on health and the local environment. The British Supreme Court ruled that affected Nigerian communities could sue Shell (which is an Anglo-Dutch company) in English courts, thus overturning a ruling by the Court of Appeals. The battle lasted 5 years.
Nigeria, Shell will also have to answer for the pollution before the English courts
Referred to as “the people against Shell”, the case of CO2 emissions was raised in 2019 by the Dutch branch of Friends of the Earth, and supported by six other groups and more than 17,000 Dutch citizens. “The court orders Royal Dutch Shell … to reduce its CO2 production and that of its suppliers and buyers by the end of 2030 by a net 45% based on 2019 levels,” the court said. “Royal Dutch Shell must implement this decision immediately.”
Climate groups had asked the Court to impose such a reduction, saying the multinational should have met the emissions targets contained in the 2015 Paris climate agreements. Shell said in February that it had set new targets to reduce its footprint of net carbon compared to a 2016 forecast of 20% by 2030, 45% by 2035, and 100% by 2050.
Its previous targets were 30% by 2035 and 65% by 2050. Shell said it was committed to serious efforts to reduce gas emissions, but that there is no legal basis for the case and that it is governments those responsible for achieving the Paris objectives.
“The climate case against Shell is unique, because it is the first time in history that justice is called to order a company to emit less CO2, by changing its policy”, declared the NGOs involved.
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The 2015 Paris Accords committed all nations to cutting carbon emissions to limit warming to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and encouraged them to drop to 1.5 degrees.
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