Climate lawsuits are not a solution and harm the Dutch economy, Shell CEO says

Climate lawsuits by environmental organizations against companies such as Shell, ING, KLM, and Ahold are very damaging to the Dutch economy, said Frans Everts, CEO of Shell Netherlands, on the TV program WNL Op Zondag.

"It does not solve the problems and forces companies to become smaller and move jobs abroad," said the top manager. According to him, these are often companies that play a pioneering role in their sector in tackling climate problems. Many of these companies are investing billions in the energy transition. According to Everts, the climate lawsuits are not helping to ensure that these investments are made in the Netherlands.

The environmental organization Milieudefensie had previously won a court case against Shell, in which the judge ruled that the oil and gas company must reduce its CO2 emissions more quickly. Shell appealed, on which a decision is expected soon.

Everts criticized the judge's ruling and said it could eventually hurt the Dutch economy. "The judge has taken the seat of the legislator. This only happens in the Netherlands. Milieudefensie also wants to tackle ING, KLM and Ahold. This could be harmful to the Dutch economy," he said on the TV program.

"If the court upholds the judge's decision, you will see that filling stations will have to be sold to another company to meet the requirements. But that won't change the demand, people will just keep filling up," Everts said. "That's our problem with the ruling, that's not the solution," he continued.

According to Everts, Shell is the largest investor in renewable energies in the Netherlands. "We are investing 6.5 billion here in offshore wind turbines, in the largest green hydrogen plant on the Maasvlakte, in a huge biofuel plant, we are investing in charging stations and in the capture of CO2," the CEO claimed.

Earlier this month, Shell weakened its interim target for reducing CO2 emissions. While the oil and gas company was still aiming for a 20 percent reduction three years ago, the company is now talking about a reduction of between 15 and 20 percent compared to 2016.