Dutch court rules oil giant Shell should cut carbon emissions up to 45%

May 27, 2021: -On Wednesday, a Dutch court ruled oil giant Royal Dutch Shell must reduce its carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 from 2019 levels.

That’s a huge reduction than the current aim of the company to lower its emissions by 20% by 2030.

Shell’s recent climate strategy states that the company aims to become a net-zero emissions business by the year 2050, with the company setting a target of cutting its CO2 emissions by 45% by 2035.

Shares of Shell were trading 0.3% lower in London. The stock price is up almost 10% year-to-date, having tumbled nearly 40% in 2020.

The lawsuit was filed in April 2019 by seven activist groups, including Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, on behalf of 17,200 Dutch citizens. Court summons claims that Shell’s business model “is endangering human rights and lives” by posing a threat to the goals laid out in the agreement of the Paris.

Last week, at Shell’s annual general meeting, shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favor of the company’s energy transition plans but, a growing minority rejected the strategy and insisted that the oil giant needed to do more in the fight regarding climate change

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According to Reuters, the case is the first in which activists have taken a major energy firm to court to compel it to overhaul its climate strategy.

At the time of lawsuit filing, a lawyer acting on behalf of environmental groups said that the case would “raise the pressure” on different fossil fuel companies.