Posts under ‘Netherlands’

FT

Odey urges Shell to drop appeal against order to slash emissions

Clifford Chance to handle Shell’s appeal against sensational defeat in the Milieudefensie case

The following are translated extracts from an article published on 19 May 2022 by the Dutch financial newspaper, the fd.

By Martijn Pols and Joris Polman.

Oil company Shell has set aside house lawyer De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek after the sensational defeat against Milieudefensie. Exactly one year ago, the judge forced Shell to tighten up its climate policy.

Shell appealed but had no confidence in a good outcome with De Brauw by its side. Lawyers for British Clifford Chance can now make another attempt. read more

CITYA.M. 

Activist investor prepares to take on Shell over climate targets

NICHOLAS EARL: THURSDAY 12 MAY 2022

Shell is preparing for a shareholder showdown at its upcoming general meeting later this month, with activist group Follow This pushing the energy giant to commit to more stringent environmental targets.

It has warned shareholders that Shell’s current transition plans are not aligned with the Paris Agreement, and has filed a motion – resolution 21 – calling for the oil and gas major to publish targets that cover short, medium and long term emissions in both its operations and the use of its energy products. read more

DutchNews.nl

Shell board ‘could be liable’ for failing to tackle CO2: Milieudefensie

April 25, 2022

Environmental campaign group Milieudefensie has written to the members of the board at Shell warning them they could be held liable for failing to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions despite being ordered by judges to do so last year.

Last May, a court in The Hague said that Shell must play its part in the fight against dangerous climate change and ‘reduce the carbon dioxide emitted by the Shell group and its customers by 45% net by the end of 2030, compared with the level in 2019.’ read more

Reuters

Dutch govt to pay Shell, Exxon $8.28 billion for filling Norg gas storage

Toby Sterling  Reuters

AMSTERDAM, April 1 (Reuters) – The Dutch government on Friday said it expected to compensate NAM, a joint venture between Shell RDSa.L and Exxon XOM.N, around 7.5 billion euros ($8.3 billion) for filling the Norg gas facility the past three years, with most of the costs coming this year due to the current high price of gas.

In a statement, the Economic Affairs Ministry cited “the current historic high gas prices” and the exact amount would be determined at the end of the gas year, which runs through to Sept. 30. In all NAM will have purchased 8.8 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas on the open market to fill the facility over the past three years. read more

The Hague: Esther Kiobel vows to continue her campaign for justice

23 March 2022

Human rights defender Esther Kiobel today lost her civil case against oil giant Shell, which she accuses of complicity in the 1995 execution of her husband by the Nigerian military government, but has promised to continue her campaign for justice. Esther has spent 27 years seeking justice for her husband Dr Barinem Kiobel, who was hanged along with eight other men in connection with widespread protests against oil pollution in the Niger Delta.At a witness hearing in 2019, three men told the Dutch court that Shell and the Nigerian government had given them money and offered them other bribes in order to incriminate Esther’s husband and eight other men, known collectively as the “Ogoni Nine”. But today, the court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to prove that Shell had been involved.

Esther Kiobel brought the case against Shell along with three other women, Victoria Bera, Blessing Eawo and Charity Levula, whose husbands were also executed in 1995. Amnesty International’s research into the historic injustice has revealed how Shell’s requests for ‘assistance’ in handling environmental protests led to a brutal government crackdown, culminating in the arrests and unlawful executions of the women’s husbands, as well as renowned activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and four other men.

“This is a disappointing outcome, but these extraordinarily brave women are not giving up. Their voices have been heard. They should be commended for their resilience and unbreaking commitment to exposing the truth, and for the invaluable work they have done to highlight the global culture of impunity for multinationals accused of human rights abuses,” said Mark Dummett, Head of Business and Human Rights at Amnesty International.

“It has taken years of legal wrangling for Esther Kiobel to get Shell to face her in a courtroom. Shell tried every trick in the book, from disputing jurisdiction to refusing to hand over crucial documents. The fact that it took more than twenty years for a court to hear Esther’s argument is a grim indictment of how corporations are able to evade accountability for terrible crimes and human rights abuses. Despite the ruling today, Esther’s battle for justice has not been in vain – her persistence represents a powerful argument for change. Governments must do more to hold companies accountable for human rights abuses, and make it possible for the victims to seek justice.”

Esther Kiobel fled Nigeria and settled in the US following her husband’s killing. She first filed a case against Shell in New York in 2002, but in 2013 the US Supreme Court ruled that the US did not have jurisdiction to hear the case. In 2017, Amnesty International supported Esther Kiobel, Victoria Bera, Blessing Eawo and Charity Levula in bringing a new case against Shell in the Netherlands. The four plaintiffs accused Shell of being instrumental in the unlawful arrest and detention of their husbands; the violation of their husbands’ physical integrity; and the violation of their right to a fair trial and to life, and their own right to a family life. The case was held up when Shell refused to hand over crucial documents relating to the case, and it was not until 2019 that the District Court of The Hague heard the women’s arguments for the first time.

Amnesty International has extensively detailed Shell’s role in the crackdown in Ogoniland. In a 2017 report read more

Reuters

Dutch watchdog says gas production at Groningen remains unsafe

AMSTERDAM, March 8 (Reuters) – A Dutch watchdog said on Tuesday that gas production from Groningen field remained a safety threat, as Europe races to find other sources of the fuel to wean itself off Russian supplies in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Dutch government has been winding down Groningen for years because production triggers earthquakes in the area and it plans to cease output entirely by October. But the government has not ruled out a change course in an emergency. read more

NL TIMES

Despite earthquakes, Groningen residents open to gas mining to thwart Putin

SATURDAY, MARCH 5, 2022 – 09:06

A majority of Groningen residents expressed willingness to open the gas tap further in order to lessen dependence on Russian gas, Dagblad van het Noorden reports from results of a survey by Enigma Research among residents of the province this week. People who live in areas that experience earthquakes from gas extraction are even more willing than those who live outside the earthquake zone.

No less than 83 percent of those polled thought the Netherlands should stop importing Russian gas. More than six in 10 Groningen residents support further gas mining in their province, up to a maximum of 12 billion cubic meters per year.

The State Supervision of Mines (SodM) has always said that gas extraction can be relatively safe up to that maximum if all houses in Groningen are reinforced. However, SodM announced in February that it wanted to halt gas extraction in Groningen.

“From my perspective on the safety of the people in Groningen, raising gas production now is really a bad idea,” said Theodor Kockelkoren, inspector-general with the State Supervision of Mines (SodM), at the time. read more

English translation of extracts from a Forbes article published in German on 1st March 2022. 

FORBES

CAN SHELL GREEN?

In the public perception, Shell is an industrial giant – now Fabian Ziegler, Chairman of the Management Board of Deutsche Shell Holding GmbH since spring 2020, wants to make the company greener.

Will the Swiss succeed in pulling off the coup so vital to the group’s survival?

Text: Matthias Lauerer
Photo: Deutsche Shell Holding GmbH

1st March 2022

Is Shell on its way to a carbon-neutral future? Will this be a reimagined world, where green hydrogen, e-mobility and decarbonization have become a reality? Or do they prefer to greenwash to perpetuate the dirty old business model on which the global economy hangs? read more

NETHERLAND NEWS LIVE

Shell wants to buy off liability from NAM in Groningen

jenniferruffalo

Shell wants to buy off liability for the earthquakes in Groningen in one go. That is what president-director Marjan van Loon of Shell Netherlands says in an interview with the Financieele Dagblad (FD). Shell is a half shareholder of the Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM), the company that carries out the drilling in Groningen. The other half is owned by ExxonMobil.

By buying off the liability, the settlement of damage caused by the earthquakes can be accelerated, according to Van Loon. The parties have been disagreeing for years about who will pay for the damage, which means that the settlement process is slow. read more

DutchNews.nl

Shell ticked off for misleading green hydrogen advert

February 11, 2022

Shell has been warned for making misleading advertising claims for the second time in six months by the Dutch advertising standards authority RCC, news agency ANP has reported.

This time the RCC has found in favour of two complaints by members of the public who objected to a Shell advert stating that ‘we make millions of kilometres cleaner’, by providing green hydrogen to power buses, trucks and cars.

The RCC said that it had several issues with the advert. Firstly, the term ‘green hydrogen’ is misleading because it is a byproduct from the production of chlorine, and while certified as environment friendly, this is not what the average consumer would consider to be green. read more

NL TIMES

State mining supervisor wants to halt gas extraction in Groningen

It is “really very undesirable” to extract more natural gas in Groningen, said Theodor Kockelkoren, inspector-general with the State Supervision of Mines…

Gas extraction in Groningen has been causing earthquakes for years, damaging houses. Kockelkoren said in the broadcast that two things are necessary to improve safety in the area: “Reduce gas production to zero as quickly as possible, and strengthen the houses that need it. From my perspective on the safety of the people in Groningen, raising gas production now is really a bad idea.” read more

Daily Mail: MailOnline

Shell boss rakes in £7million in shares thanks to the cost of living crisis after the oil and gas giant recorded £12billion profits

“He described Mr van Beurden as ‘yet another greedy oil corporation boss profiteering from the misery inflicted by rocketing energy costs’.”

• Ben van Beurden, 63, has seen the value of his shares skyrocket amid price hikes
• The CEO has received £71 million in pay and bonuses since taking the job
• The spike helped the energy giant Shell to unveil a 14-fold increase in profits 

By ALEX LAWSON SENIOR CITY CORRESPONDENT FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY

PUBLISHED: 23:55, 5 February 2022 | UPDATED: 23:55, 5 February 2022

The chief executive of Shell has been criticised after his firm cashed in on the cost of living crisis – leaving him with a lucrative windfall. read more

NETHERLAND NEWSLIVE

Milieudefensie: appeal from Shell climate case at the earliest in 2023

eddieanderson: 1 Feb 2022

Shell and Milieudefensie will face each other again in court in the spring of 2023 at the earliest. When exactly, will become clear in November of this year, Milieudefensie reports. The organization has discussed the planning with Shell’s lawyers and published the planning for the appeal in the climate case. This shows that the first step towards handling the case will be taken at the end of March. Shell may then explain on paper what objections it has against the court’s decision. read more

REUTERS

Shell to begin trading under simpler, single-line share structure

By Syndicated ContentJan 31, 2022 | 2:46 AM

(Reuters) – Oil major Shell said it would begin trading with a single line of shares on Monday, confirming the assimilation of its A and B shares over the weekend as part of plans to simplify its dual share structure.The group, which ditched “Royal Dutch” from its name earlier this month after moving its head office to Britain from the Netherlands, said its shares would start dealings on Euronext Amsterdam, the London Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange. read more

Go faster, be bolder”: setting the pace at Shell

CEO Ben van Beurden talks about the year just gone, the year to come and why Shell must speed up its transformation.

By Joanna Wrighton and Rob van’t Wel on Jan 20, 2022

It was another extraordinary year for Shell. What were the highlights of 2021 for you?

The launch of our Powering Progress strategy was a huge moment. It’s the most complete and clearest articulation of our strategy in Shell’s recent history. It includes ambitious goals for shareholders, for action on carbon emissions, for people and for the environment. Powering Progress also sets the most ambitious targets in our industry to reduce emissions. read more