Shell SHEL.L on Tuesday told a Dutch court a 2021 order that it should drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions lacks a legal basis and risks obstructing the fight against climate change.
\nIn a landmark ruling that shocked the energy sector, a lower Dutch court in 2021 ordered Shell to reduce its planet warming carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 from 2019 levels.
\nThe order related not only to Shell\u2019s own emissions, but also to those caused by the buyers and users of its products.
\nShell said that implementing the ruling would force it to shrink its business and would only lead customers to shift to other suppliers of fuel.
\n\u201cThis case has no legal basis\u201d, Shell\u2019s lawyer Daan Lunsingh Scheurleer told a court in The Hague on the first day of hearings in Shell\u2019s appeal against the order.
\n\u201cIt obstructs the role that Shell can and wants to play in the energy transition.\u201d
\nThe energy crisis triggered by Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine has shown the importance of fossil fuels, Lunsingh Scheurleer said, as governments scrambled to increase imports of liquefied natural gas and spent billions to compensate households for surging energy prices.
\n\u201cOil and gas will play an important role in both the security of supply and affordability during the energy transition,\u201d he said.
\nShell\u2019s lawyers stressed the company\u2019s investments in the development of non-fossil fuels as well as its support for the Paris Climate Agreement and said the company\u2019s targets to reduce its own emissions went further than the court\u2019s order.
\nBut a general order to reduce total emissions of its products by 45% went too far, Lunsingh Scheurleer said, as a wider implementation would cripple the Dutch economy.
\n\u201cA general application of this order is impossible without drastic measures,\u201d he said.
\nDespite Shell\u2019s objections, Friends of the Earth Netherlands, which brought the case, said it was confident heading into the appeal.
\n\u201cThe scientific basis on which we\u2019ve founded our claims against Shell has only solidified,\u201d the group\u2019s lawyer Roger Cox said before the hearings.
\n\u201cI am confident that we can once again convince the judges that Shell needs to act in line with international climate agreements.\u201d
\nShell earlier this month weakened a 2030 carbon reduction target and scrapped a 2035 objective, citing expectations for strong gas demand and uncertainty in the energy transition, even as it affirmed a plan to cut emissions to net zero by 2050.
\nShell now targets a 15-20% reduction in net carbon intensity of its energy products by 2030, compared with 2016 intensity levels. It had previously aimed for a 20% cut.
\nThe court has planned four days of hearings for the appeal this month. A verdict is expected in the second half of the year.
\nA further appeal to the country\u2019s Supreme Court is generally expected regardless of the outcome of this appeal.
\n(Reuters)greenhouse gas emissions. greenhouse gas emissions, climate change, energy transition<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Shell argued in a Dutch court that a 2021 order to cut greenhouse gas emissions lacks legal basis and would hinder the fight against climate change. The order required Shell to reduce carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 from 2019 levels, including emissions from its products’ buyers and users. Shell’s lawyer stated that implementing the ruling would force the company to shrink its business and customers to switch to other fuel suppliers. Despite objections, the environmental group behind the case expressed confidence in convincing the judges that Shell must comply with international climate agreements. Shell recently revised its carbon reduction targets, aiming for a 15-20% reduction in net carbon intensity of its energy products by 2030. The court is expected to issue a verdict later this year, with a potential further appeal to the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":6571,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3038,1972,186,4021,3348,693,1498,932,4705,3471,3818,26,358,10,1898,4706,988,706,2658,4548,4584,1605,1823,187,3752,591,758,4279,3097,1033,19,827,1358,168,17,18,444],"class_list":["post-6570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-agreement","tag-appeal","tag-business","tag-carbon-emissions","tag-change","tag-climate-change","tag-confidence","tag-court","tag-crlimate-crisis","tag-customers","tag-development","tag-economy","tag-energy","tag-energy-crisis","tag-energy-sector","tag-energy-transition","tag-fight","tag-fossil-fuels","tag-fuel","tag-gas","tag-greenhouse-gas-emissions","tag-imports","tag-increase","tag-international","tag-investments","tag-lawyers","tag-natural-gas","tag-netherlands","tag-petrol","tag-prices","tag-russia","tag-security","tag-support","tag-supreme-court","tag-ukraine","tag-world","tag-zero"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n