Milieudefensie is initiating a new Climate Case against Shell. The case will be about new oil and gas fields, Milieudefensie's director Donald Pols announced at a press conference on Tuesday.
Together with Global Witness, Milieudefensie simultaneously publishes research that shows that Shell has another 700 oil and gas fields in the pipeline that cause Shell’s emissions to keep growing. Pols: “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.”
It is the first time that a Climate Case about oil and gas fields is launched on this scale. Pols: “This Climate Case prevents us having to file separate suits regarding each new field. That would take far too long. In this way, all of Shell’s new fields might be banned in one fell swoop.”
In November 2024*, the judge in the appeal in the Climate Case against Shell stated that new oil and gas projects can be ‘at odds’ with international climate goals. Pols: “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.”
Since the 2021 ruling in the Shell Climate Case, in which the court ruled for the first time that Shell has a duty to reduce its total emissions, the company has decided to invest in 32 new oil and gas fields. In November 2024, the Court of Appeals confirmed that Shell has an obligation to reduce its emissions. Pols: “Regardless, Shell continues to drill for more oil and gas, thus endangering human lives.”
Milieudefensie carried out its research into Shell’s new oil and gas plans together with Global Witness. It comprises an inventory of the independent Rystad Energy database. This shows that Shell has another 700 new oil and gas projects in the pipeline.
Should Shell roll out its current plans, in 2030 emissions in its production branch will be even higher than in 2022. While, in fact, the company’s emissions should be drastically reduced to halt dangerous climate change. If Shell were to stop new oil and gas field development as of April 2025, this might prevent 5.2 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions – which equates to 36 times the annual emissions of the Netherlands. “This shows that this case could bring huge climate gains”, says attorney Roger Cox from the Paulussen Advocaten law firm, which again represents Milieudefensie in this new Climate Case.
Cox stresses that the new Climate Case is legally viable: “All leading institutional and scientific sources point in the same direction: there is no room for new oil and gas fields. With the right climate approach, new fields would be redundant. Existing oil and gas production would more than suffice to meet global demand.”
Winnie Oussoren (22), chair of Milieudefensie Jong : “World leaders are nowhere near doing enough to stop the climate crisis, and large polluting companies such as Shell only care about multi-billion profits. Fortunately, in court these large polluters are not getting away with empty green pledges. It is simple: Shell must stop endangering people now and in the future. Ceasing to develop new oil and gas fields is an essential step.”
In addition to stopping new oil and gas fields, the new Climate Case also includes the demand that Shell issue clear targets for a step-by-step reduction of its emissions between 2030-2050. Shell currently lacks such targets. This is concerning, because Shell is increasingly shifting its focus towards the production of gas, while progressively reducing its investments in solar and wind energy.
Photo above: the press conference about the new Climate Case against Shell at the Milieudefensie office in Amsterdam. © Marieke Wijntjes
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