Oil and gas major Shell on 12 November won an appeal against a landmark ruling that required it to accelerate carbon reduction efforts, dealing a blow to campaigners who have turned to legal channels to pursue climate action.
The appeals court in The Hague said Shell had a responsibility to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to protect people from global warming. But it dismissed the 2021 ruling that ordered Shell to cut its absolute carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 compared with 2019 levels, including those caused by the use of its products.
Since then, Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 that led to a spike in oil and gas prices has sharpened governments' and shareholders' focus on costs and, in many cases, weakened climate ambitions.
The ruling coincided with the COP29 UN climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, where opening procedures were delayed by a dispute over how prominent the future of fossil fuels should be on the agenda.
Friends of the Earth Netherlands, which brought the Dutch case in 2019, said it would continue its fight against large polluters but did not say whether it would launch a further appeal at the Netherlands' Supreme Court.
"This hurts," director Donald Pols said. "At the same time, this case has shown that large polluters are not above the law."
Shell CEO Wael Sawan said Shell believed the decision was "the right one for the global energy transition, the Netherlands, and our company."