Corporate Climate Litigation: The Shell Appeal Judgement

Among the groundbreaking cases in private climate litigation, there is the class action lawsuit launched in 2019 by Milieudefensie (or “Friends of the Earth Netherlands” , in this dispute representing 17,379 individual claimants), Greenpeace Nederland, Fossielvrij NL, Waddenvereniging, Both Ends and Jongeren Milieu Actief against a major energy company, then based in the Netherlands and called Royal Dutch Shell, now Shell Plc, established in London. In 2021, the Hague District Court issued a landmark decision finding that the major energy company breached its duty of care under Dutch law and ruled that Shell had to reduce its aggregate CO2 emissions (i.e. scope 1, 2 and 3) by 45% by 2030 with reference to the emissions levels of 2019 . Unsurprisingly, Shell appealed the ruling, and the Court of Appeal in The Hague issued its very much anticipated judgment on 12 November 2024 . The first instance decision was overturned with reference to the existence of a specific obligation for the energy company to reduce GHG emissions by 45% by 2030, based on 2019 levels, but it was confirmed the corporate responsibility to address climate change pointing out, inter alia, the duty of coherence of companies with the tools of corporate social responsibility they endorse. In this work, we will present the key passages of the careful and informed legal reasoning of the appellate judgment, which has already garnered significant academic interest . We will then highlight the major developments brought by this decision for corporate climate litigation, and the significance it may have for the role all relevant stakeholders have to play and respect in the fight against global warming.