Eco-zealots vow to 'tackle big polluters' as Shell wins landmark climate change case

The so-called "People versus Shell" case began in 2019, when Friends of the Earth Netherlands along with six other environmental groups brought the case to the Hague.

After the courts initially supported the green organisations, Shell was instructed to cut its emissions by 45 per cent against 2019 levels - even those emissions by its customers.

The court of appeal decided there was “insufficient consensus in climate science on a specific reduction percentage to which an individual company like Shell should adhere”.

Additionally, the judges ruled that - without Shell - other companies would absorb its customers, which would lead to the same amount of GHGs being produced either way.

Shell chief executive Wael Sawan said: “We are pleased with the court’s decision, which we believe is the right one for the global energy transition, the Netherlands and our company.”

In the legal proceedings, the company had argued that states, rather than courts, should be the only bodies capable of setting GHG reduction goals.

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Currently, Shell has a self-set target of halving scope one and two emissions by the end of the decade - compared to 2016 - and, eventually, will seek to eliminate all its emissions to net zero by 2050.

Lawmakers in the Netherlands have rejected political proposals to enact absolute reduction targets on three individual companies since the original ruling in 2021.

Responding to today’s decision, director at Friends of the Earth Netherlands Donald Pols said: “This hurts.

“At the same time, we see that this case has ensured that major polluters are not inviolable and has further fuelled the debate about their responsibility in combating dangerous climate change.

“That’s why we’re going to continue to tackle big polluters, like Shell.”

However, Friends of the Earth has not commented on whether it will launch another appeal.

The judicial outcome has coincided with Cop29 - which is taking place in Azerbaijan - as international leaders have debated whether fossil fuels should take a more prominent place on the environment summit’s agenda.

Speaking at the summit, Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev declared oil and gas "a gift of the God" and that countries "should not be blamed for having them and should not be blamed for bringing these resources to the market because the market needs them".