Shell Just Got Wrecked in Dutch Court

A court in the Netherlands just handed down a landmark ruling, ordering Shell to slash its carbon pollution 45% by 2030. It’s hard to overstate how radical the ruling is and the far-ranging impacts it could have not just for the Dutch oil giant but oil companies around the world.

Milieudefensie, the Dutch chapter of Friends of the Earth, sued Shell in the name of what eventually rose to 17,000 co-plaintiffs in May 2018. The case was finally heard in December with the ruling coming down on Wednesday.

The suit had a fairly straightforward ask: If Shell could please stop destroying the planet and bring its emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, that’d be swell. While Shell has talked a big game about reaching net zero emissions by 2050, that far-off timeline and assumptions about relying on unproven carbon capture technology mean the company will continue to pollute in the interim. An analysis of its climate plan by Oil Change International found that on eight out of 10 facets, the plan was “grossly insufficient.” The other two were merely “insufficient.”

The Dutch court ruling will now require the oil giant to actually reduce its emissions rather than making vague promises. It’s the second monster ruling in less than two years from courts in the Netherlands. In late 2019, courts ruled in favor of environmental group Urgenda, which sued the government for failing to address climate change and set much more expedient climate targets for the country. Just as that case had ripple effects in courtrooms in other countries, so could the Shell ruling.

Roger Cox, one of the lawyers on the case, told Dutch news site NU that “a Dutch judge can impose a judgment that should be enforced in the eighty countries where Shell is active.” He also noted that it could follow in the footsteps of the Urgenda, setting a precedent that could lead to more suits like it around the world. “These kinds of cases can create momentum of their own,” he said.

And if ever there was a need for climate momentum, now is the time. The world has a narrowing window of opportunity to reduce carbon emissions, and that starts with ending fossil fuel production. Just last week, the International Energy Agency released a major report showing that the world must stop new fossil fuel development next year to have a decent shot of meeting the Paris Agreement target of limiting global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). Shell is hardly alone as a fossil fuel company that has made what amount to empty promises. But the Dutch ruling means that other companies from Exxon to Chevron could soon be legally on the hook to clean up their acts, too.

This is a developing story and will be updated.