In Milieudefensie et al v Royal Dutch Shell plc, the Court of Appeal of the Hague ("Court of Appeal") quashed the ground-breaking emissions reduction order granted against Shell by the District Court of the Hague ("District Court") in 2021.

At first glance, the Court of Appeal's decision appears to be a win for private companies in the burgeoning field of climate change litigation, as it reverses a landmark judgment which held that Shell was legally responsible for reducing its emissions by a specific percentage to help achieve global climate targets. However, the Court of Appeal also concluded that the social duty of care under Dutch law requires companies to mitigate dangerous climate change and make an appropriate contribution to the climate goals of the Paris Agreement, which leaves the door open for further climate change litigation against private companies in the Netherlands and elsewhere…

Despite determining that Shell does have an obligation to reduce its emissions, the Court of Appeal overturned the order against Shell requiring it reduce its emissions by 45%.

The court determined Shell was subject to a number of requirements under EU climate legislation…

In respect of Shell's scope 1 and 2 emissions the court held that Shell's own targets (which they were on course to achieving) went beyond what Milieudefensie were seeking…