By Bart H. Meijer
THE HAGUE (Reuters) – A Dutch court on Wednesday ordered Royal Dutch Shell to significantly deepen its planned greenhouse gas emission cuts, in a ruling that could pave the way for legal action against energy firms around the world.
At a court room in The Hague, judge Larisa Alwin read out a ruling which ordered Shell to reduce its planet warming carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 from 2019 levels.
Shell currently has a target to reduce the carbon intensity of its products by at least 6% by 2023, by 20% by 2030, by 45% by 2035 and by 100% by 2050 compared with 2016.
The lawsuit, which was filed by seven groups including Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth Netherlands, marks a first in which environmentalists have turned to the courts to try to force a major energy firm to change strategy.
It was filed in April 2019 on behalf of more than 17,000 Dutch citizens who say Shell is threatening human rights as it continues to invest billions in the production of fossil fuels.
(Reporting by Bart Meijer; Writing by Ron Bousso and Shadia Nasralla; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle and Alexander Smith)
