Energy giant Shell has won an appeal in the Netherlands overturning a landmark ruling that required it to speed up its carbon reduction efforts. The decision was a setback for climate activists and comes as world leaders discuss action on global warming at the COP29 Summit in Azerbaijan.
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00:00A major disappointment for climate activists, as a Dutch appeals court in The Hague reversed
00:06a landmark ruling that required energy companies shell to accelerate carbon reduction efforts.
00:11To be honest, I was just really disappointed, like I was almost crying and I was in there
00:17in the court.
00:19And we were just like, at first it looked really good for us, but then it just went
00:23downhill.
00:25A 2021 verdict by a Dutch district court had ordered the gas giant to cut its carbon emissions
00:31by 45% by 2030, compared to 2019 levels.
00:37Shell argued the decision would hurt their business with no benefit to the fight against
00:41climate change, as customers would just shift to other suppliers.
00:49The court acknowledged the company has a human rights responsibility to reduce emissions,
00:54but said it could not force Shell to adhere to a specific reduction percentage.
01:02Shell claims they remain committed to becoming a net zero energy business by 2050, something
01:07that activist plaintiffs doubt, giving the company to crease its carbon emission targets
01:12in March, citing sustained demand for fossil fuels.
01:16But it's clear in the summary, the judge stated that the more than 800 oil and gas projects
01:20that are planned by Shell, that they are contradictory to the responsibility of Shell
01:27to reduce its CO2 emissions in accordance with international climate agreements and
01:31contributes to human rights violations.
01:34The ruling comes as thousands of world leaders, negotiators and activists look for a way to
01:40fight global warming at the United Nations annual climate summit, COP 29 in Azerbaijan.
01:46The UN's chief telling attendees, time is running out to tackle the climate crisis,
01:51urging countries and companies to work harder to adhere to the 2015 Paris Agreement that
01:57aims to limit the rise of global temperatures.
02:00So doubling down on fossil fuels is absurd.
02:04The clean energy revolution is here, no group, no business and no government can stop it.
02:12But you can and must ensure it is fair and fast enough to limit global temperature rise
02:20to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
02:23This ruling in the Netherlands, a setback towards that goal.
02:27But the activists who turned to legal channels to pursue the climate action have vowed to
02:32continue fighting, with Friends of the Earth expected to appeal the decision in the Supreme
02:37Court.
02:38Obviously we're not done with Shell, we're still going to campaign, we're still going
02:42to fight and there's going to be lots of activism still.
02:47And if this isn't the way, there will be another way to make them reduce their emissions.
02:50It could be years before there is a final ruling, but despite the Dutch appeals court
02:55decision favouring Shell this time, climate lawyers say it is a step forward in bringing
03:00global corporate responsibility into the spotlight and the battle to hold the world's major
03:04polluters to account.
03:07Dolphine Chen and Rosie Grenninger for Taiwan Plus.