The lawsuit against Shell started in The Hague today, which was filed by Milieudefensie and six other social organizations. 17,000 citizens have also joined the lawsuit. They believe that Shell is doing too little to combat climate change.
According to them, Shell should do much more to reduce emissions caused by burning oil and gas. According to Milieudefensie, Shell’s emissions should decrease by 45 percent in 2030 compared to 1990.
It is the first time that a large oil and gas company has been brought to court over climate change. There is also interest in this lawsuit from abroad. Milieudefensie therefore hopes that more lawsuits against large oil companies will follow if the judge agrees with the organization in this case.
Paris Climate Agreement
At the same time, it is not the first lawsuit that has been conducted about the climate. Until now, it has mainly been governments that have been the subject of business, both at home and abroad. For example, the case that Urgenda brought against the Dutch state was controversial. In that lawsuit, the state defended itself to the Supreme Court, but Urgenda knew up to the highest level to be proved right.
The difference with the lawsuit against Shell is that it now concerns a company, while it was governments that made international agreements about the climate. After all, it was almost 200 countries that together concluded the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015. It was agreed that global warming should be limited to well below 2 degrees, preferably close to 1.5 degrees.
Companies were not at the table when making that appointment. And so the big question is whether they can still be held to it. According to Milieudefensie, it is, because achieving the climate goals would otherwise be impossible. Shell is one of the ten largest emitters in the world, says Milieudefensie. “On its own, Shell emits twice as much CO2 as the Netherlands.”
‘Careless and Unfounded’
But Shell rejects the allegations. On the website, the company elaborates on the lawsuit and states that, just like Milieudefensie, it believes that a cleaner energy system should be established. But opinions differ about how it is done. The claims in this case are, according to Shell, “careless and unfounded”.
It is up to governments, says Shell, to formulate clear goals that will lead consumers and companies to change their behavior. According to Shell, companies should also take their responsibility, but the company says that too. Shell itself wants to emit “net zero” greenhouse gases by 2050, and wants to help others who use Shell’s products.
“We also need to work with our customers, who are also going through changes,” Shell writes. “Most of our emissions come from our customers using Shell products. That’s why we are exploring ways to help our customers reduce their emissions.”
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