Hague Court of Appeal to hear Shell climate case in April

Shell's appeal against a ruling obliging it to cut its carbon emissions by almost half will be heard in April, the Hague Court of Appeal confirmed.

In a case heard by the District Court in 2021, the oil giant was ordered to slash its global emissions 45% by 2030 relative its 2019 baseline, after Friends of the Earth, six other NGOs, and 17,000 other plaintiffs successfully argued that the company had violated Dutch and European human rights law.

Almost three years on, Shell's appeal is scheduled at The Hague Court of Appeal on April 2-4 and April 12, 2024, court representatives said.

In the original case, the court cited 1.5˚C warming targets, the IEA, IPCC and other international bodies as the basis for its 45% mandate, ruling that the company had not gone far enough to curb harmful emissions.

With immediate effect, the court obliged Shell to reduce both its own emissions and those of its energy suppliers and customers, based on a "significant best-efforts obligation".

The landmark case was the first of its kind targeted at a company, with previous climate litigation mostly targeting state actors. In the time since, however, climate litigation on human rights appeals has gained momentum.

The same year, Shell announced plans to move its headquarters from the Netherlands to the UK, conspicuously leaving Dutch jurisdiction in a move it said was intended to simplify its share structure.

While Shell has asserted that its decision to appeal the verdict does not change its commitment to reach net-zero by 2050, it has argued that obligations set by the Hague far outpace other reductions targets.

"The obligation the court has set is much more stringent than the world's most progressive energy pathways and scenarios, such as the EU's proposed 'Fit for 55' package and the International Energy Agency's Net Zero Emissions scenario," Shell said in a March 2022 statement.

The EU's 'Fit for 55' package targets a net greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 55% by 2030, however the reductions are relative to a 1990 baseline rather than the 2019 reference point set for Shell.

Shell has said that a 50% net reduction in its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 compared to its 2016 levels, "positions [it] well towards meeting the District Court's obligations", but has pleaded limited control over its customers' emissions profiles.

"It's not clear how can Shell be ordered to reduce carbon emissions we do not control from customers who are not under a similar legal obligation to reduce their emissions," Shell said.

Meanwhile, Friends of the Earth have maintained pressure. Citing quarterly profits of $5.1 bn in the second quarter of 2023, the lobby group said: "Buoyed by last year's bumper profits, the biggest in Shell's history, the company is going full steam ahead with plans to extract every last drop of oil and gas it can."

Shell profits have since risen to $6.2 bn in Q3, with a $500 million increase in the upstream segment, the company announced in November.