Amsterdam, May 13, (dpa/GNA) – Dutch climate activists have launched a new lawsuit against British oil and gas company Shell to stop the development of new oil and gas fields.
“”We demand that Shell immediately stop developing new oil and gas fields,” the director of the organization Milieudefensie (Environmental Defence), Donald Pols, said in Amsterdam on Tuesday.
The extraction of fossil fuels from new fields would have catastrophic consequences for the climate, Pols said.
In an initial lawsuit, the climate activists had demanded a comprehensive reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and won a historic victory in the first instance in The Hague. However, this was overturned on appeal in 2024.
The plaintiffs are now focusing on new gas and oil fields, citing the judges in the appeal proceedings. They had stated that Shell had a special responsibility for protecting the climate and that investments in new fields could potentially violate this.
In 2021, civil judges in the first instance ordered Shell to comprehensively reduce its CO2 emissions, including indirect emissions, meaning those of suppliers and customers. However, on appeal, the judges ruled that this was not enforceable.
The climate activists appealed to the High Council, the highest court, in February. It is unclear when a ruling will be made.
The lawsuit was filed in the Netherlands because Shell also had headquarters in The Hague at the time the lawsuit was filed. The climate case attracted worldwide attention.
The company has not yet responded to the new suit. However, Shell was confident after winning the appeal. “We are convinced that we will also be vindicated,” Dutch Shell chief executive Frans Evert said.