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

RTTNews

Shell To Appeal Court Ruling In Netherlands Climate Case

(RTTNews) – Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS-B, RDSB.L, RDSA.L, RDS-A) confirmed that it will appeal a ruling issued by the District Court in The Hague, in May 2021, that Shell must reduce its global net carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels.

Shell said it agrees urgent action is needed and it will accelerate its transition to net zero emissions by 2050. But it will appeal because a court judgment, against a single company, is not effective. Climate change is a challenge that requires both urgent action and an approach that is global, collaborative and encourages coordination between all parties. read more

The Guardian

Big oil and gas kept a dirty secret for decades. Now they may pay the price

Chris McGreal: Wed 30 Jun 2021 08.00 BST

The environmentalist Bill McKibben once characterized the fossil fuel industry’s behavior as “the most consequential cover-up in US history”. And now for the first time in decades, the lawsuits chart a path toward public accountability that climate activists say has the potential to rival big tobacco’s downfall after it concealed the real dangers of smoking.

“We are at an inflection point,” said Daniel Farber, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley and director of the Center for Law, Energy, and the Environment. read more

REUTERS

Italian court acquits two in Nigeria oil graft case

BY REUTERS STAFF: JUNE 24, 2021

MILAN (Reuters) – An Italian appeals court on Thursday overturned jail sentences handed down to Nigerian Emeka Obi and Italian Gianluca Di Nardo for their part in a graft case involving Eni and Shell in Nigeria.

In a decision taken behind closed doors but read out to reporters afterwards, the three judges quashed the convictions and said there was no case to answer.

The prosecution itself had asked for the sentences to be overturned after a court in March acquitted the two energy groups in a long-running case revolving around the acquisition of a Nigerian oilfield for about $1.3 billion. read more

ENERGY VOICE

‘Petrolhead’ who beat Shell shows how law can fight climate change

16/06/2021, 7:39 am

Royal Dutch Shell Plc hired a team of pricey lawyers for its defense against environmental activists in a Dutch court, and lost. A decade-old, $22 book might have upped their chances of winning.

“Revolution Justified: Why Only the Law Can Save Us Now,” is no bestseller, ranking in the mid-600,000s in Amazon’s Kindle store. But the book, by environmental lawyer Roger Cox, laid out arguments that were integral to his landmark victory over the Anglo-Dutch oil giant on May 26. read more

DutchNews.nl

Groningen gas: 80% of the homes in this village are being demolished

June 14, 2021 – By Pierre Felcenloben

In Groningen, work is continuing to clear up the damage caused by extracting millions of cubic metres of gas from under the province. For the residents of the village of Overschild, this means demolishing and rebuilding almost every building. 

Thousands of people have been affected by damage to their homes due to subsidence in the region, which sits above Europe’s largest gas field and has been exploited by NAM, a joint venture set up by Shell and Esso, since 1963. read more

CNN BUSINESS

Shell CEO: We will cut emissions faster but the world needs to use less oil

By Hanna Ziady, CNN Business: Updated 1220 GMT (2020 HKT) June 10, 2021

London (CNN Business( Shell will cut emissions faster than planned after being ordered to do so by a court in The Hague last month.

In a statement on Wednesday, the oil company’s CEO Ben van Beurden said he was determined “to rise to the challenge.” But he kept open the option of appealing the landmark ruling that he said “singled out” Shell and was “not the answer” to tackling the climate crisis. read more

Shell promises to accelerate shift to low carbon

The oil giant Shell will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions more quickly than planned following a legal ruling in the Netherlands, its chief executive has promised in a blog post.

The firm would take “some bold but measured steps,” Ben van Beurden wrote.

Environmentalists won a court case in May, arguing Shell was failing to reduce emissions quickly enough.

Mr van Beurden said Shell would appeal against the ruling, but meanwhile he would look at hastening the transition. read more

THE GUARDIAN

It’s time to nationalize Shell.

Private oil companies are no longer fit for purpose

By Johanna Bozuwa and Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò: Mon 7 June 2021

It has been a bad month for big oil. A Dutch court just ruled that Shell must cut its carbon pollution by 45% by 2030. The court’s decision has rightly been celebrated: it is a much more stringent requirement than the ineffective regulations imposed to date.

Private oil and gas companies are finally up against the wall. Shell has promised to appeal the Dutch court decision, but oil prices went negative last year and put companies on bankruptcy notice… read more

ICIS

Extracts from: Friends of the Earth v Royal Dutch Shell – what did the Dutch Court rule, and what does it mean for Shell’s business?

by Paul Hodges on 6th June 2021 in Oil markets

The Court’s decision
The District Court of The Hague made a landmark ruling on 26 May in the case made collectively by the Dutch Friends of Earth (Milieudefensie) and other NGOs versus Royal Dutch Shell (“Shell” or “RDS”) on the issue of whether Dutch law required Shell to limit its CO2 emissions: read more

fd.

Five questions about the meaning of the Shell judgment

It was a statement that shook the so-called BV Netherlands for a while. A stone in the pond. Shell must reduce its CO₂ emissions faster than it does now, the judge ruled a week ago. Five questions about the next steps.

In brief

• Last week, the judge ruled that Shell must reduce its CO₂ emissions more quickly.
• A week after the Shell verdict, there are still many questions.
• There is also much speculation about next steps.

1. Does this ruling affect Shell worldwide?
Shell must reduce CO₂ emissions faster, the judge ruled. The statements apply to the entire group, i.e. worldwide, although there are some exceptions, such as the part of the emissions that falls under the Emission Trade System (ETS) system. read more

The Guardian

Opinion
Fossil fuels
Shell’s historic loss in The Hague is a turning point in the fight against big oil

Tessa Khan

The oil giants that have helped drive the climate crisis are finally being forced to take responsibility for their actions

Tuesday 1 June 2021

On a rainy afternoon in The Hague, the district court delivered a judgment against Royal Dutch Shell, the parent company of the Shell group. It refuted the excuses regularly relied on to continue extracting oil and gas and vindicated longstanding calls to keep fossil fuels in the ground. The court held that Shell’s current policy of merely reducing the “carbon intensity” of its products by 20% by 2030, and aiming to reach net zero by 2050, would contribute to climate impacts that endanger the human rights of the plaintiffs. read more

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

‘Wolf pack’ attack win opens the door for more turmoil

June 1, 2021: The success of the activist shareholder assault on the Exxon board last week, along with a court ruling ordering Royal Dutch Shell to cut its carbon emissions faster than planned and a majority of Chevron shareholders voting for a reduction in its “scope three” emissions have been depicted as victories for climate activists.

While the Shell decision clearly fits into that category (although it will appeal) and Chevron probably also squeezes in, the Exxon experience isn’t quite as clear cut and illustrates the confusion and conflict, for companies and investors, that flow from the increasing aggression and impact of environmental, social and governance (ESG) funds. read more

THE TELEGRAPH

Vilifying Western oil companies is a very bad way to fight climate change

AMBROSE EVANS-PRITCHARD 31 May 2021 • 12:58pm

Green victories over the likes of Shell risk handing Russia and the petro-states political leverage over the world’s energy supplies

Environmentalists should think twice before celebrating the week that shook Big Oil to the core. Green activist victories against Shell, ExxonMobil, and Chevron are pregnant with unintended consequences.

The Shell saga is the most unsettling of the three episodes last week. (For sake of disclosure I own shares.) It was ordered by a district court in the Hague last Wednesday to slash emissions 45pc by 2030 in line with United Nations guidance, including the “Scope 3” emissions of hypothetical drivers who burn their petrol. Others will surely follow because copycat suits are proliferating. read more

Forbes

Big Oil’s Bad Week

The world’s largest integrated oil and gas companies are the so-called supermajors or more commonly “Big Oil.” In order of descending market capitalization these companies are ExxonMobil XOM -0.3%, Chevron CVX +0.8%, Royal Dutch Shell, TOTAL SE, and BP.

Last week three members of the Big Oil club were each dealt blows regarding the status quo of their businesses.

The Shell Decision

The lawsuit was filed in 2019 by Milieudefensie, the Dutch arm of Friends of the Earth. More than 17,000 Dutch citizens and six environmental groups joined the lawsuit, which argued that Shell’s business practices violated the “unwritten standard of care” that required it to protect Dutch residents. read more