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00:00Now, the oil and gas company Shell has won its appeal against a landmark climate ruling in the
00:06Netherlands. Now, the ruling in 2021 had ordered the oil and gas company to sharply reduce greenhouse
00:12gas emissions by 45% by 2030, including those caused by the use of its products. Now, Shell
00:19had argued that the ruling would force it to shrink its business without any benefit to the
00:24fight against climate change, as customers would simply find new suppliers. Well, let's hear the
00:29reaction then to that appeal ruling from one environmentalist.
00:36The fight against dangerous climate change is a marathon, not a sprint, and the race has only
00:42just begun. Shell is and remains one of the world's biggest polluters and must take responsibility
00:49for solving the climate problem. We will persevere, we will not give up,
00:58we will ensure that major polluting companies take responsibility.
01:05Well, we're going to cross now to Amsterdam, talk to our correspondent who joins us from
01:08there, Ferdinand van Tetz. Ferdinand, what exactly then is this judgment?
01:16So, the judge ruled that this 2021 ruling, that it would reverse on that, so no longer
01:22does Shell need to reduce emissions by 45% by 2030 compared to the 2019 levels,
01:28and it's no longer responsible for curtailing the output of the users of its products. Now,
01:35of course, there were some things that were won by the other side. One is that the protection
01:41from climate change has been ruled to be a human right. So, Shell has a responsibility to protect
01:48citizens from the effects of climate change. But the judge said that, indeed, curtailing or
01:54punishing Shell's clients for the use of its products would be futile, because they would
01:58simply go to another supplier, therefore not reducing CO2 emissions in the long run. But,
02:04of course, a huge win for Shell here today, because that ruling, of course, had caused a
02:09lot of consternation, was followed around the world, and a huge win for Shell here on that front.
02:14Yeah, you're outside the Shell building there. What's been the response then from Shell?
02:21So, Shell, of course, very happy. The environmentalists say that they do see
02:26reasons to appeal, so this might not be over yet. They haven't said that,
02:31they're just looking at it for now. They say they see some wins, for example, the fact that human
02:36rights, that protection from climate change has been seen as a human right. But we also need to
02:40look at the larger context of this. Since this, there's been a slew of action related to climate
02:46change around the world. In France, for example, environmentalists have taken Total to court.
02:51In Italy, we have a case against E&I. We have a case in Germany against car manufacturers. So
02:56they're already saying, look, we already have achieved that. And also, the European regulatory
03:03landscape has changed. So in July earlier this year, a directive was implemented by the European
03:09Council, saying that all companies should abide by the Paris Climate Accords. So also, the
03:15regulatory landscape is shifting. So already companies are being held to account more than
03:20they were previously. Shell had been preparing to appeal against this. They'd already had a lawyer
03:24actually present in court before this ruling came through, getting ready to go into cassation,
03:30as it's called here, the highest form of appeal possible. And now it seems that the other side
03:34needs to be looking at that, whether that's a possibility, and whether they see any possibility
03:39to reverse this verdict yet again. But a very happy day for Shell here, for sure.
03:43Fernan, thanks very much. Fernan Van Tassel reporting for us from Shell's headquarters in
03:47Amsterdam.