In a ruling handed down this morning, the Court of Appeal found that London-based Royal Dutch Shell is not responsible for oil pollution in the Niger Delta by its Nigerian subsidiary. The Court rejected an appeal brought by the Ogale and Bille communities against an earlier decision that a claim against the London-based parent company had no prospect of success and that, therefore, the claim against Shell Nigeria could not proceed. CORE’s Director Marilyn Croser commented, “The ruling is a gift to irresponsible multinationals, sending the message that they can abuse human rights and wreck the environment with total impunity. The brave decision to take their legal fight to the Supreme Court puts the Niger Delta communities in the vanguard of the global struggle for corporate accountability.” Marilyn Croser said, “The judgment threatens to close down a vital route to justice available through legal action in the UK. We now need legislative reform to introduce a requirement for companies to carry out human rights due diligence throughout their operations, both to help prevent abusive corporate practices and to improve accountability when such practices occur.”