Deepali Kalia
A Dutch court on May 26, in a landmark climate crisis case ordered Royal Dutch Shell, the Anglo-Dutch energy giant to cut its carbon emissions by a net 45 percent by 2030 compared to 2019 levels.
The ruling is being hailed by various climate activism groups as a victory for the planet.
A group of about seven environmental and human rights organizations and around 1,700 Dutch citizens had filed the case in 2018 against the multinational company, urging the court to order the company to cut its emissions in line with the international goals set out in the 2015 Paris Climate agreement which equated to cutting its emissions by a net 45 percent by 2030.
The court stated in an English language summary of its order that the multinational giant was not currently as contended by the environmental groups, in breach of its obligations to reduce emissions as the parent company was already tightening its emission policy but also stated that the company’s policy, “Is not concrete, has many caveats and is based on monitoring social developments rather than the company’s own responsibility for achieving a CO2 reduction”.
“Therefore, the court has ordered RDS to reduce the emissions of the Shell group, its suppliers and its customers by net 45%, as compared to 2019 levels, by the end of 2030, through the corporate policy of the Shell group,” read the court summary.
While the climate activists are rejoicing the multinational company in a written response stated that it will appeal the “Disappointing court decision”.
The company said that it was already “Investing billions of dollars in low-carbon energy, including electric vehicle charging, hydrogen, renewables and biofuels. We want to grow demand for these products and scale up our new energy businesses even more quickly.”
The case is believed to be the first one targeting a multinational company and could set a precedent for similar cases against other polluting multinationals around the world.