Image from Amnesty International UK

IMAGE SOURCE: Slick PR can’t disguise Shell’s devastating oil pollution in Nigeria

ARTICLE FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES

The Fisherwomen, Chevron and the Leaking Pipe

By Ruth Maclean July 25, 2021, 3:00 a.m. ET

Oil companies like Chevron, Shell and Eni have made billions in profits in the vast Niger Delta region in the last decades. But now some are pulling out — and they are leaving utter ruin in their wake, according to government monitors and environmental and human rights organizations. The delicate ecosystem of the Niger Delta, once teeming with plant and animal life, is today one of the most polluted places on the planet. read more

upstreamonline.com

Shell’s Niger Delta oil-spill case to be heard in UK courts

22 July 2021 8:13 GMT UPDATED  22 July 2021 8:13 GMT

Anglo-Dutch supermajor Shell has run out of time to appeal a UK court ruling earlier this year which found that a five-year-old case on environmental pollution in the Niger Delta should be heard in the UK and not Nigeria. In February, Shell’s lawyers failed to convince the High Court in London over the jurisdictional argument that the trial would be better decided in Nigeria, although Shell was given leave to appeal but declined to do so. read more

OILPRICE.com

Shell To Appeal Landmark Court Ruling

By City A.M – Jul 21, 2021, 11:30 AM CDT

Shell has today confirmed that it will appeal against a landmark court ruling requiring the oil giant to cut emissions faster than it had planned to.

The Anglo-Dutch firm said that it had been unfairly singled out by the ruling, which it said was not an “effective” way of tackling climate change.

In May, a court in the Hague ordered the firm to slash greenhouse emissions by 45 percent from 2019 levels by 2030. read more

After two decades of seeking justice, the District Court of the Hague ruled in May 2019 that the case could be heard in The Netherlands. In the ongoing case, the Court is assessing the role that Shell played in the ‘Ogoni Nine’ – among them my husband – being sentenced to death and executed.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Shell to Appeal Dutch Court Ruling on Emissions Cuts

By Sarah McFarlane: July 20, 2021 8:24 am ET

Royal Dutch Shell PLC on Tuesday confirmed it would appeal against a Dutch court ruling calling for the oil major to reduce its carbon emissions at a faster pace, saying it was being unfairly singled out.

The energy giant said it was working toward increasing the scale and speed of its plans for cutting carbon emissions, but that the court ruling didn’t take into account the commitments it set out earlier this year to shift away from fossil fuels toward lower-carbon energy due to the timing of the hearings. read more

The Guardian

How a powerful US lobby group helps big oil to block climate action

Chris McGreal: Mon 19 Jul 2021 11.00 BST

When Royal Dutch Shell published its annual environmental report in April, it boasted that it was investing heavily in renewable energy. The oil giant committed to installing hundreds of thousands of charging stations for electric vehicles around the world to help offset the harm caused by burning fossil fuels.

On the same day, Shell issued a separate report revealing that its single largest donation to political lobby groups last year was made to the American Petroleum Institute, one of the US’s most powerful trade organizations, which drives the oil industry’s relationship with Congress. read more

CNN OPINION

Climate change is about greed. It’s time for big oil to pay us back

Opinion by Jeffrey Sachs: July 8, 2021

Recently, a Dutch court in The Hague ordered Royal Dutch Shell to slash the emissions from its products. The European Union as a whole is moving forward with a European Green Deal to decarbonize the EU energy system no later than 2050. In line with the European plans, Volkswagen recently declared its intention to phase out ICEs in Europe by 2035.

As with the drug companies that pushed addictive painkillers on Americans and tobacco companies that pushed killer cigarettes, it’s time for the oil industry to pay heavy penalties on ill-gotten gains, the flip side of which are the death and destruction caused by extreme climate events. read more

FRANCE 24

Polluted by the oil industry: Life in Nigeria’s Ogoniland

By: Moïse GOMIS|Emmanuelle SODJI: 02 July 2021

The Ogoniland area of southern Nigeria is one of the most polluted places on Earth. The crops are burnt to a cinder, ash and tar smother the land and the wells are polluted with oil, making the water totally undrinkable. Entire communities have suffered as their way of life has been destroyed by the oil industry. Our reporters take you to Ogoniland, in the Niger Delta, where pollution has become the norm. read more

The New York Times

Lawmaker Threatens to Subpoena Exxon After Secret Video

The chairman of a powerful House subcommittee said he is seeking answers from Exxon and other oil and gas giants over their role in spreading disinformation on climate change.

By Hiroko Tabuchi and Lisa Friedman

The chairman of a House subcommittee is demanding that executives of Exxon Mobil Corp., Shell, Chevron and other major oil and gas companies testify before Congress about the industry’s decades-long effort to wage disinformation campaigns around climate change. read more

BBC NEWS

Climate change: Courts set for rise in compensation cases

By Matt McGrath Environment correspondent: 28 JUne 2021

There’s likely to be a significant increase in the number of lawsuits brought against fossil fuel companies in the coming years, say researchers.

Their new study finds that to date, lawyers have failed to use the most up-to-date scientific evidence on the cause of rising temperatures.

As a result, there have been few successful claims for compensation.

That could change, say the authors, as evidence linking specific weather events to carbon emissions increases. read more

Oil and gas firms could face fresh legal action by activist groups as investors demand stock market-listed firms align with Paris climate goals

By HARRIET DENNYS, FINANCIAL MAIL ON SUNDAY

PUBLISHED: 21:50, 26 June 2021 | UPDATED: 22:45, 26 June 2021

Major oil and gas firms including BP and Shell could face fresh legal action by activist groups as investors demand stock market-listed firms align with Paris climate goals.

The wave of potential lawsuits could also target Chevron and Exxon and other heavy industry majors such as Ineos, the petrochemicals giant controlled by billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, and biomass power firm Drax. read more

THE NATIONAL LAW REVIEW

The Dutch Decision on Shell’s Carbon Emissions – Should U.S. Companies Be Worried?

On May 26, 2021, a Dutch court ordered Royal Dutch Shell Plc (“Shell”) to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 45% (from 2019 levels) by 2030. Shell had previously pledged to reduce its emissions by 20% (from 2016 levels) by 2030 and to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. The Dutch court held that this commitment was insufficient based on the “very serious threat” that Shell’s carbon emissions pose to Dutch residents. read more

CNBC

Big Oil’s increasing number of climate lawsuits draws parallels to Big Tobacco

PUBLISHED FRI, JUN 25 20211:12 AM EDT: Sam Meredith
@SMEREDITH19

• The prospect of a rising tide of climate litigation cases against heavy emitting businesses comes shortly after a landmark courtroom defeat for Royal Dutch Shell.
• Since the turn of the century, more than 2,000 climate litigation cases were found to have been filed in a trend that is widely expected to have global implications for carbon-intensive companies.
• Analysts believe this is merely scratching the surface of what is to be expected in the future — drawing parallels to the so-called tobacco trials of the 1950s and 1960s.

LONDON — Big Oil is likely to face an exponential increase in climate lawsuits over the coming years, a trend that analysts say is reminiscent of activists turning to the courts to take on the tobacco industry.

The prospect of a rising tide of climate litigation cases against heavy emitting businesses comes shortly after a landmark courtroom defeat for Royal Dutch Shell. read more

EMAIL ABOUT OIL SECTOR CORRUCTION IN NIGERIA SENT TO SHELL CEO MR BEN VAN BEURDEN, 25 JUNE 2021

-By Zik Gbemre  

WITH THE LEVEL OF CORRUPTION STILL PERVADING THE OIL SECTOR, NIGERIAN POLITICIANS HAVE STILL NOT LEARNT THE VANITY OF MATERIAL POSSESSION – THE NEED FOR THEM TO HAVE A RETHINK, AND FOR ANTI-GRAFT AGENCIES TO TAKE ACTION  

• The mind-boggling allegation of high-profile corruption in the sale of 57 marginal fields involving the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva; Buhari’s nephew, Mamman Daura; Sarki Auwalu; Sabiu Yusuf (aka Tunde); Sarki Abba and others, should be thoroughly investigated by anti-graft agencies… 
• It is sad how many people have made that piece of paper called money, to become their masters, and they the slaves of it… 
• The sacred values like hard work, diligence, honesty and integrity that once held our society together, have all been replaced… Leaving our societies decaying daily without us even realizing it… 

For as long as I can remember, the subject of high-profile corruption amongst Nigeria’s political class, is one that has continued to get worse, despite all the so-called fight against corruption by the past and present Governments. And it is one problem that has continued to deprive the majority of the Nigerian populace from having access to the dividends of democracy, and has kept the nation perpetually underdeveloped, while those in the political space have continued to feed fat to the detriment of all. read more

REUTERS

Shell urged to drop appeal over landmark climate ruling

By Ron Bousso: 2 MIN READ: JUNE 24, 2021

LONDON (Reuters) – A Dutch activist group that won a legal battle against Royal Dutch Shell over its climate strategy has urged the company to ditch its appeal and hold joint talks on how to reduce its emissions, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said the company planned to appeal the ruling but that the Anglo-Dutch company would also accelerate its energy-transition strategy and deepen emission cuts.

The court ruling came amid mounting pressure from investors and activist groups on the world top oil companies including Exxon Mobil to tackle their emissions. read more

Activists ‘threatened with arrest’ for anti-Shell demo at Science Museum

An open letter to the Science Museum published on UKSCN’s website states: “The fact that Shell, a company with a vested interest in the continued use of fossil fuels, is financially supporting an exhibition about climate change solutions is appalling.

The London branch of the UK Student Climate Network (UKSCN London) organised a demonstration at the famous landmark in protest at its decision to accept sponsorship from fossil fuel giant Shell. read more