Milieudefensie v Shell: 3 Takeaways and Challenges on the Appeal’s Court Decision

On November 12, 2024, the Dutch Court of Appeal in The Hague issued its eagerly awaited appeals judgment in Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands) and others v. Royal Dutch Shell. The applicants sought an injunction declaring that Shell is legally bound to reduce its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 45% below 2019 levels by 2030. Alternatively, the applicants pleaded for a reduction of 35% or 25%. Milieudefensie referred to a range of emissions reduction reports to demonstrate that the emissions reductions were required as a minimum fair reduction share for Shell, given a global carbon budget. They further argued that the reduction aim would have to encompass Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions.

The district court had granted Milieudefensie’s claims for a reduction target of 45% by 2030, leading to Shell’s appeal in 2022. The appellate court followed the district court’s decision to a large extent, but also deviated from it on crucial points. In particular, the Court found that it could not impose a concrete minimum emission reduction target on Shell. This blog post explains some of the key takeaways from the appeal, highlighting some critical ground rules laid down by the court which may serve future litigation and several key challenges.