Oil giant Shell wins appeal on landmark emissions ruling
Al Jazeera
Dutch appeals court agrees Shell must act to protect climate but dismisses stipulated emissions cut.
A Dutch court has sided with Shell on its appeal against an earlier ruling that it was obligated to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions to help prevent climate change.
An appeals court in The Hague on Tuesday dismissed the ruling, saying the oil and gas company is on its way to meeting emission targets that it has set for itself, and that it is unclear if reducing emissions caused by its products would help the fight against climate change.
The verdict came a day after the COP29 climate summit opened. The annual United Nations event, hosted by Azerbaijan, was launched on Monday amid warnings that 2024 is on track to break temperature records.
The Hague’s district court ruled three years ago that the British-Dutch oil and gas giant should cut its absolute carbon emissions by 45 percent by 2030 compared with 2019 levels, including emissions caused by the use of its products.
The court said it agrees that Shell is required to reduce carbon emissions, but that it could not determine the extent of the cuts.
