Next Tuesday, Shell PLC's (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL) appeal comes to court in the Hague over the decision to force it to reduce CO2 emissions by 45% of 2019 levels by 2030.
The oil supermajor is challenging the 2021 court decision where it was ordered to cut emissions under international climate agreements, which seems counter to the company's recently announced watering down of its carbon reduction targets.
Fresh data this week also shows the sector is on track to nearly quadruple the amount of extracted oil and gas from newly approved projects by the end of this decade.
The appeal, which will be livestreamed online, is scheduled for April 2 in The Hague, when opening statements will be made by all parties, including Shell and six environmental and social organisations, led by Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands), Greenpeace Netherlands and the Milieu & Mens (Environment and People) foundation.
Further statements will be heard on subsequent days the following week, April 12, seeing questions of the court, replies, rejoinders and closing statements by all parties.
"The scientific basis on which we’ve founded our claims against Shell has only solidified," said Roger Cox, lawyer for Milieudefensie. "In court, it’s facts that matter, which is why I am confident that we can once again convince the judges that Shell needs to act in line with international climate agreements."
In the original case, the court cited 1.5˚C warming targets set by the Paris Climate Agreement, signed by 195 nations in 2015, and backed by 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.
Milieudefensie noted that the Paris agreement is its central legal weapon and said like sovereign nations a multinational company like Shell also bears a responsibility to curb its emissions, which on a yearly basis it said are equivalent to eight times those of the Netherlands, with only the United States, India, China and Russia emitting more than the FTSE 100 company.
Pols points to the findings from the latest IPCC report, highlighting that the risks posed by climate change in the years since the ruling have only increased: “Forest fires, floods and other natural disasters will grow in severity if Shell continues to drill for oil and gas.”
The same year of the initial Hague district court's decision, Shell announced plans to move its headquarters from the Netherlands to the UK, though it said the move was intended to simplify its share structure.
It has previously argued that a 50% net reduction in its more direct Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 compared to its 2016 levels, positions it well towards meeting the obligations, but claims that emissions from the oil and gas it sells to others are not fully within its control.
"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 has said.