Shell Netherlands president and CEO Frans Everts said activists wanted to limit the supply of Shell’s products before its customers are ‘able, willing or ready to switch to less fossil fuels’.Shell Netherlands president and CEO Frans Everts said activists wanted to limit the supply of Shell’s products before its customers are ‘able, willing or ready to switch to less fossil fuels’.
Lawyers for Milieudefensie , which brought the case against Shell, repeated their calls for the company to act in line with climate science and international agreements to stop extreme weather from growing more violent. They said the outcome of the case will determine how much the climate changes. Shell argued in court that it plays its role in energy transition and pointed to the lobbying it had done in favour of climate policies such as the EU emissions-trading scheme and the US Inflation Reduction Act.
At the appeal, Milieudefensie argued that Shell should not achieve the original emissions reduction target by simply selling off fossil fuel assets, which may then land in the hands of companies with less public scrutiny and dirtier operations. Shell argued that the original ruling gave it the freedom to do so and said the activist group had failed to contest this point by lodging a cross-appeal.