The climate non-profit, Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands), have just launched a court case against Shell after their research, conducted together with Global Witness, showed the fossil fuel giant has 700 new oil and gas fields in the pipeline.
The Milieudefensie case against Shell centres on the growing emissions produced by new oil and gas fields, and references a Dutch Court of Appeal ruling from November 2024 which confirmed that Shell has an obligation to reduce its emissions.
Director of Mileudefensie, Donald Pols said:
“At a time in which the climate crisis continues to rage on because of the actions of companies such as Shell, every new oil or gas field is simply one too many. This is why we are once again taking our case to court.”
In reference to the 2024 Milieudefensie-Shell court ruling, Pols said:
“For us, this is reason to pick up the gauntlet and take Shell to court once again. We simply cannot sit back and wait while Shell continues on its fossil path. Shell remains fully committed to new oil and gas fields, despite warnings from scientists that this will have disastrous consequences. Now is the critical moment to curb the climate crisis.”
Patrick Galey, Head of Fossil Fuel Investigations at Global Witness said:
“People the world over want to see urgent action to tackle climate breakdown, but oil giants like Shell appear to be laughing in our faces. Their reckless expansion of oil and gas threatens the lives of people now, and future generations. It’s time for humanity to count for more than the multi-billion dollar profits of a corporation.”
-ENDS-
Notes to editors
- Further information regarding Milieudefensie’s new legal challenge can be found here: https://en.milieudefensie.nl/news/why-we-are-launching-a-new-climate-case-against-shell
- Milleiudefensie’s report was based on data analysis performed by Global Witness. When approached, Shell declined to comment on its contents.