Summary:

A court in Netherland has ruled that the oil giant Shell must condense its emission to align its policies with the Paris climate accords. With full awareness of the action on climate change, Shell has declared to appeal on the Court decision and has replied on the case verdict by stipulating their business policies and journey towards a net-zero energy company.

Content:

Nearly 200 nations including Netherland has agreed to keep global temperatures ‘well below’ 2c above pre-industrial level Under the terms of the Paris Agreement on climate change. A number of groups around the world are now trying to force companies and the government to comply with the agreement through the court.

Likewise, an environmental group brought the case against the oil giant Shell in 2019 alongside with six other bodies and more than 1700 Dutch citizens. The verdict says, Shell is responsible for its own carbon-dioxide emissions and those of its suppliers. Its also casting a spotlight on how investors approach these type of companies to manage climate risks.

In that ruling The Dutch court said, Shell must cut its emissions by 45% comparing to their emission in 2019 and that change should take place by 2030.

These create to decarbonize the pressure to decarbonize. Shell has also insisted in the verdict that they are on their journey to formulate a net-zero carbon emission company by 2050 and they also decided to appeal.

Meanwhile, a Shell spokesperson said they have stipulated several steps of this journey and that Shell was investing ‘billions of dollars in low-carbon energy’ including electric vehicle, vehicle charging, hydrogen, renewables and biofuels. On the same day, Exxon Mobile corporation Shareholders elected board members nominated by an activist investor, who demanded the preparation for a post-fossil-fuel world.

According to a BBC correspondent, it was a ‘precedent-setting judgment’ that brought an emerging change among European oil companies whose bonds have lost value. In addition to pressure from shareholders and activists who pushed the Shell and Exxon cases, debt investors say they are trying to get ahead of possible moves by the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and other central banks to favor sustainable companies in their bond-buying programs.

Article source : https://www.wsj.com/articles/shell-exxon-decisions-highlight-rethink-in-energy-investment-11622109522?mod=djem_EnergyJournal

Picture from:  CNBC