Shell wins appeal against landmark Dutch climate ruling

Oil and gas major Shell on Nov 12 won an appeal against a landmark ruling that required it to accelerate carbon reduction efforts, dealing a blow to campaigners who have turned to legal channels to pursue climate action.

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The appeals court in The Hague said Shell had a responsibility to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to protect people from global warming.

But it dismissed the 2021 ruling that ordered Shell to cut its absolute carbon emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 compared with levels in 2019, including those caused by the use of its products.

Since then, Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which led to a spike in oil and gas prices, has sharpened governments' and shareholders' focus on costs and, in many cases, weakened climate ambitions.

The ruling coincides with the COP29 UN climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, where opening procedures were delayed on Nov 11 by a dispute over how prominent the future of fossil fuels should be on the agenda.