Climate Justice in Dutch Courts
In May a Dutch court ordered Shell to cut carbon emissions from its oil and gas by 45% by 2030. A tiny activist investor group simultaneously won two places on ExxonMobil’s board and Chevron’s management was defeated when investors voted in favour of forcing the group to cut its carbon emissions.
Chevron is second on the list of fossil fuel firms with the biggest cumulative carbon emissions, ExxonMobil is third and Shell sixth.
It is the first time a company has been legally obliged to align its policies with the Paris climate accords, says Friends of the Earth (FoE).
The environmental group brought the case to court in 2019, alongside six other bodies and more than 17,000 Dutch citizens.
Shell say their target is to become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050, in step with society’s progress in achieving the goal of the UN Paris Agreement on climate change.