Shell Netherlands boss says environment activism lawsuits damage business climate

Environmental organizations that want to use the courts to force individual energy companies to adjust their sustainability policies are damaging the business climate in the Netherlands, said Shell Netherlands CEO Frans Everts. The executive told the Telegraaf that such legal maneuvers will not be successful if the outcomes only apply to one business.

In 2021, a court ruling ordered Shell to reduce net carbon emissions by 45 percent from 2019 levels. The District Court in The Hague gave the company until 2030 to meet the target. By focusing on net emissions, it gave Shell the possibility to use other strategies, like reforestation or carbon capture and storage, to achieve the court-ordered goal.

The lawsuit was filed by several organizations, including Milieudefensie. Shell will appeal against the verdict in April. Shell does not agree that one company should be put in a position where it is responsible for reducing its own emissions, as well as the emissions of all of its clients, while other energy firms are not held to the same standard.

"Such an approach is counterproductive," Everts said in the newspaper. "Suppose Shell closes its petrol stations, the only thing that will happen is that the customer will drive to a petrol station that does not have the obligation to reduce emissions."

If the environmental organizations also start summoning other energy companies, that will not solve the problem, according to Everts. "Then customers will also go elsewhere. This will damage the business climate in the Netherlands."

Shell wants to discuss ways it can cooperate with environmental organizations. “We have the same end goal: zero net CO2 emissions by 2050,” said Everts. "The debate on this is polarized, we want to talk, discuss and understand points of view."