Rosebank back in court as Shell has won a landmark case in the Dutch courts, overturning a 2021 ruling requiring it to cut its carbon emissions by 45%. Ironically the ruling came as the UN climate talks (COP 29), involving some 200 countries, started in Azerbaijan earlier today.
The Hague court of appeal said it could not establish that Shell had a “social standard of care” to reduce its emissions by 45% or any other amount, even though it agreed the company had an obligation to citizens to limit emissions.
Three years ago, a court in The Hague backed a case by Friends of the Earth Netherlands and 17,000 Dutch citizens, requiring Shell to reduce its CO2 emissions significantly, in line with the Paris climate accords. Milieudefensie, the Dutch arm of Friends of the Earth Netherlands said the ruling was a setback. Shell said it was pleased with the court’s decision.
The environmental group can now take its case against Shell to the Supreme Court but it could take some time for the case to be heard. “This hurts,” said the director of Milieudefensie, Donald Pols. “At the same time, we see that this case has ensured that major polluters are not immune and has further fuelled the debate about their responsibility in combating dangerous climate change. That is why we will continue to tackle major polluters, such as Shell.”
The 2021 case was considered a landmark ruling in environmental law related to climate change: while previous lawsuits against governments have prevailed for enforcing a more effective climate policy, this was considered the first major lawsuit to hold a corporation to the tenets of the Paris Agreement.
While the decision only has jurisdiction in the Netherlands, although pertaining to Shell’s global operations, it could set a precedent for other environmental lawsuits against other large companies with high emissions that have not taken sufficient steps to reduce their emissions as The Guardian reports.
Meanwhile Rosebank is back in court today as climate campaigners are declaring their backing for a court case today (12 November) as Greenpeace and Uplift face the Rosebank oil field owners Equinor and Ithaca Energy, after the current UK Government conceded its approval was unlawful and declined to defend it. If the climate campaigners are successful, the decision to re-approve Rosebank may end up back with the UK Government.
Greenpeace will also be challenging the UK Government’s approval of the Jackdaw gas field, which caused widespread protests when it was approved in 2022. The cases are being heard in the Edinburgh Court of Session from Tuesday 12th to Friday 15th November.
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