The ruling — handed down just as annual climate talks take place at COP29 in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku — overturns a previous verdict that imposed steep carbon emissions reductions on the British oil and gas giant. “We are pleased with the court’s decision, which we believe is the right one for the global energy transition, the Netherlands and our company,” Shell CEO Wael Sawan said in a statement.
Joshua Sherrard-Bewhay, an analyst at investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown, said Shell’s successful appeal “signals to high emitters that they are safe for now from the jurisdiction of international frameworks,” citing the Paris Agreement, which binds nearly all countries to drastically cut carbon pollution, as one example.