Shell on Trial as Court Weighs Its Climate Responsibility
by Hugo Miller and Laura Hurst (Bloomberg/Financial Post) … A Dutch court verdict against Royal Dutch Shell Plc will determine whether it has a legal responsibility for climate change, in a case that will be watched by Big Oil executives globally.
A panel of judges in a lower court in The Hague will rule on Wednesday in a case being followed closely by environmental campaigners too. While the verdict is only legally binding in the Netherlands, it’s set to be scrutinized as a new area of litigation and may guide deliberations by judges elsewhere.
Shell was sued by Milieudefensie, the Dutch arm of Friends of the Earth, whose lawyers spent two weeks in court earlier this year arguing that the company is violating human rights by extracting fossil fuels and undermining the Paris Agreement’s aim of limiting temperature increases to less than 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Oil companies around the world have a so-called duty of care they must respect in the countries they operate to avoid oil spills and other non-deliberate acts of pollution. A verdict holding them liable for greenhouse gas emission caused by the burning of fossil fuels they’ve extracted would be a landmark victory for environmental campaigners, who’ve increasingly turned to courts to seek reforms. At last count, there were close to 1,700 climate change cases targeting governments and companies, according to the climatecasechart.com database.
…
Recent decisions have not gone Shell’s way in both countries in which the Anglo-Dutch company is jointly listed. Thousands of Nigerians can sue Shell in London over environmental damage in the West African nation, the U.K.’s top court said in February.
…
New York City suffered a setback last month in its effort to make Shell, Exxon Mobil Corp., BP Plc and other energy companies help cover the public costs of dealing with climate change, as a federal appeals court ruled the global problem demands political rather than legal action.
Holding a corporation liable for violating the Paris Agreement to which it’s not a signatory may not be compatible with international law. READ MORE
Oil giant Shell must reduce CO2 emissions by 45 pct by 2030: Dutch court (Xinhua)
Dutch court orders Shell to slash its emissions by 45 percent by 2030 (The Hill)
Big oil’s climate reckoning … OIL MAJORS’ ROUGH DAY: (Politico’s Morning Energy)
Investors and Courts Send Powerful Wake-Up Call to Oil Giants Exxon, Chevron, and Shell (Sierra Club)
The Man Who Beat Shell: How an Unknown Lawyer Won Historic Suit (Bloomberg)
Dutch Advertising Watchdog Finds Shell Guilty of Greenwashing (Our Daily Planet)
Excerpt from Xinhua: A Dutch court ruled Wednesday that oil giant Royal Dutch Shell (RDS) must reduce its carbon emissions by net 45 percent by 2030 from 2019 levels.
“The court has come to the conclusion that RDS is obliged to ensure through the Shell group’s corporate policy that the CO2 emissions of the Shell group, its suppliers and its customers are reduced,” read the judgment of the District Court of The Hague. The case was launched by a group of environmental NGOs.
Seven foundations and associations as well as over 17,000 individual claimants initiated proceedings against the Anglo-Dutch oil giant.
The claimants believe that as the policy-setting head of the Shell group, Royal Dutch Shell has not taken sufficient action, has acted unlawfully, and should do more to reduce CO2 emissions.
…
“The court finds that RDS is not currently in breach of its reduction obligation, as the claimants argue,” read the judgment. “RDS has enhanced the Shell group’s policy and is working it out in more detail. However, seeing that as the policy is not concrete, the court finds that there is an imminent breach of the reduction obligation.”
In a press statement, Harry Brekelmans, projects and technology director of Royal Dutch Shell, said that the company was disappointed that the court had upheld the claims, adding that an appeal against the verdict is very likely. READ MORE
