(Bloomberg) -- The Dutch government sees a court order that forces Royal Dutch Shell Plc to limit its CO2 output with 45% by 2030 as “far-reaching.”
“It is a unique verdict and really comprehensive. Our legal specialists are studying, what it means for our climate plans, what is means for other companies, what are the risk and the opportunities”, Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, Deputy Minister of Climate Policy, told Bloomberg News in The Hague after a cabinet meeting.
In a watershed moment for the oil industry, a Dutch court ordered Shell to cut its emissions by 45% by 2030. That’s much faster than the company had been planning, and carries a legal weight that was previously absent from its plan for voluntary reductions.
Shell said it expects to appeal the ruling, but if it’s upheld the equivalent of 740 million tons a year of carbon dioxide -- more than the emissions of Germany -- will have to be removed from its ledgers by the end of the decade.
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
