A Dutch court on Wednesday ruled Royal Dutch Shell—the oil giant—to reduce the company’s carbon emission by 45 per cent from 2019 by the year 2030.The company, on the other hand, aims to reduce its emission by 20 per cent by 2030—much lower than the court’s order.According to the climate strategy of Shell, the company pledges to become a net-zero emissions business by 2050 and cutting CO2 emissions by 45 per cent by 2035.A spokesperson for Shell said the company “fully expect to appeal today’s disappointing court decision.”“We are investing billions of dollars in low-carbon energy, including electric vehicle charging, hydrogen, renewables and biofuels,” the spokesperson said via email, reported CNBC. “We want to grow demand for these products and scale up our new energy businesses even more quickly.”After plunges for almost 40 per cent in 2020, shares of Shell were trading 0.2 per cent higher in London.Globally, corporate emitters are under extreme pressure to set emissions targets in line with the Paris agreement.Seven activists groups including Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace filed the lawsuit against Shell in April 2019 on behalf of 17,200 Dutch citizens.In a statement, Roger Cox, a lawyer for environmental activists in the case, said the ruling marked “a turning point in history” and could have major consequences for other big polluters.Also, Sara Shaw, Friends of the Earth’s international program coordinator for climate justice and energy, said the organization hoped the verdict would “trigger a wave of climate litigation against big polluters to force them to stop extracting and burning fossil fuels.”(With inputs from CNBC)
