Shell plc
Shell welcomes Dutch Court of Appeal ruling
November 12, 2024
Today, the Court of Appeal of The Hague overturned the District
Court of The Hague’s 2021 ruling in the case brought against Shell
plc by Milieudefensie, other NGOs and a group of private
individuals.
“We are pleased with the court’s decision, which we believe is
the right one for the global energy transition, the Netherlands and
our company,” said Shell plc Chief Executive Officer Wael
Sawan.
“Our target to become a net-zero emissions energy business by
2050 remains at the heart of Shell’s strategy and is transforming
our business. This includes continuing our work to halve emissions
from our operations by 20301. We are making good progress in our
strategy to deliver more value with less emissions.”
The past few years have highlighted the critical
importance of secure and affordable energy for economies and
people’s lives. At the same time, the world must meet growing
demand for energy while tackling the urgent challenge of climate
change. There has been significant progress in the transition to
low-carbon energy where governments have introduced policies to
encourage investment and drive changes in demand.
As Shell has stated previously, a court ruling would not reduce
overall customer demand for products such as petrol and diesel for
cars, or for gas to heat and power homes and businesses. It would
do little to reduce emissions, as customers would take their
business elsewhere. We believe that smart policies from
governments, along with investment and action across all sectors,
will drive the progress towards net-zero emissions that we all want
to see.
Notes to Editors:
- In 2021, the District Court of The Hague ruled that Shell plc
must reduce the worldwide aggregate net carbon emissions it reports
across Scopes 1, 2 and 3 by net 45% by the end of 2030, compared
with 2019 levels, with a “significant best efforts” obligation for
Scopes 2 and 3, and a “results-based” obligation for Scope 1.
Shell’s appeal did not have the effect of suspending the District
Court’s decision.
- Shell is investing $10-15 billion between 2023 and the end of
2025 in low-carbon energy solutions including charging for electric
vehicles, biofuels, renewable power, hydrogen, and carbon capture
and storage, making Shell a significant investor in the energy
transition.
- Shell invested $5.6 billion in low-carbon solutions in 2023,
which was 23% of our capital spending.
- By the end of 2023, Shell had achieved more than 60% of its
target to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions from its operations by 50%
by 2030, compared with 2016.
- By the end of 2023, Shell had also achieved its short-term
target to reduce the net carbon intensity of the energy products we
sell (6.3% reduction against our target of 6-8%) compared with
2016. Our analysis, using data from the International Energy
Agency, shows the net carbon intensity of the global energy system
fell by around 3% over the same period.
- Shell continues to be one of the industry leaders in reducing
emissions of methane. In 2023, we continued to keep our methane
emissions intensity well below 0.2% and, by the end of 2023, we had
reduced our methane emissions by 70% since 2016.
- To help drive the decarbonisation of transport, Shell set a new
ambition in 2024 to reduce customer emissions from the use of our
oil products (such as gasoline, diesel and kerosene) by 15-20% by
2030, compared with 2021 (Scope 3, Category 11)2.
1 On a net basis; baseline year 2016.
2 Customer emissions from the use of our oil products (Scope 3,
Category 11) were 517 million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent
(CO2e) in 2023 and 569 million tonnes CO2e in 2021.
Enquiries
UK / International Media Relations: +44 207 934 5550
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The companies in which Shell plc directly and indirectly owns
investments are separate legal entities. In this announcement
“Shell”, “Shell Group” and “Group” are sometimes used for
convenience where references are made to Shell plc and its
subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words “we”, “us” and “our”
are also used to refer to Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general
or to those who work for them. These terms are also used where no
useful purpose is served by identifying the particular entity or
entities. ‘‘Subsidiaries’’, “Shell subsidiaries” and “Shell
companies” as used in this announcement refer to entities over
which Shell plc either directly or indirectly has control. The term
“joint venture”, “joint operations”, “joint arrangements”, and
“associates” may also be used to refer to a commercial arrangement
in which Shell has a direct or indirect ownership interest with one
or more parties. The term “Shell interest” is used for
convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect ownership
interest held by Shell in an entity or unincorporated joint
arrangement, after exclusion of all third-party interest.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements (within
the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995) concerning the financial condition, results of operations and
businesses of Shell. All statements other than statements of
historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking
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and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and
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events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in
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things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Shell to
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beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These
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affect the future operations of Shell and could cause those results
to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking
statements included in this announcement, including (without
limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas;
(b) changes in demand for Shell’s products; (c) currency
fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserves
estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g)
environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated with the
identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and
targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such
transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing
countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j)
legislative, judicial, fiscal and regulatory developments including
regulatory measures addressing climate change; (k) economic and
financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l)
political risks, including the risks of expropriation and
renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities,
delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in
the reimbursement for shared costs; (m) risks associated with the
impact of pandemics, such as the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak,
regional conflicts, such as the Russia-Ukraine war, and a
significant cybersecurity breach; and (n) changes in trading
conditions. No assurance is provided that future dividend payments
will match or exceed previous dividend payments. All
forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are
expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements
contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place
undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional risk
factors that may affect future results are contained in Shell plc’s
Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2023 (available at
www.shell.com/investors/news-and-filings/sec-filings.html and
www.sec.gov). These risk factors also expressly qualify all
forward-looking statements contained in this announcement and
should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking
statement speaks only as of the date of this announcement, November
12, 2024. Neither Shell plc nor any of its subsidiaries undertake
any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking
statement as a result of new information, future events or other
information. In light of these risks, results could differ
materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the
forward-looking statements contained in this announcement.
Shell’s Net Carbon Intensity
Also, in this announcement we may refer to Shell’s “Net Carbon
Intensity” (NCI), which includes Shell’s carbon emissions from the
production of our energy products, our suppliers’ carbon emissions
in supplying energy for that production and our customers’ carbon
emissions associated with their use of the energy products we sell.
Shell’s NCI also includes the emissions associated with the
production and use of energy products produced by others which
Shell purchases for resale. Shell only controls its own emissions.
The use of the terms Shell’s “Net Carbon Intensity” or NCI are for
convenience only and not intended to suggest these emissions are
those of Shell plc or its subsidiaries.
Shell’s net-zero emissions target
Shell’s operating plan, outlook and budgets are forecasted for a
ten-year period and are updated every year. They reflect the
current economic environment and what we can reasonably expect to
see over the next ten years. Accordingly, they reflect our Scope 1,
Scope 2 and NCI targets over the next ten years. However, Shell’s
operating plans cannot reflect our 2050 net-zero emissions target,
as this target is currently outside our planning period. In the
future, as society moves towards net-zero emissions, we expect
Shell’s operating plans to reflect this movement. However, if
society is not net zero in 2050, as of today, there would be
significant risk that Shell may not meet this target.
Forward-Looking non-GAAP measures
This announcement may contain certain forward-looking non-GAAP
measures such as cash capital expenditure and divestments. We are
unable to provide a reconciliation of these forward-looking
non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures
because certain information needed to reconcile those non-GAAP
measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures is
dependent on future events some of which are outside the control of
Shell, such as oil and gas prices, interest rates and exchange
rates. Moreover, estimating such GAAP measures with the required
precision necessary to provide a meaningful reconciliation is
extremely difficult and could not be accomplished without
unreasonable effort. Non-GAAP measures in respect of future periods
which cannot be reconciled to the most comparable GAAP financial
measure are calculated in a manner which is consistent with the
accounting policies applied in Shell plc’s consolidated financial
statements.
The contents of websites referred to in this announcement do not
form part of this announcement.
We may have used certain terms, such as resources, in this
announcement that the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) strictly prohibits us from including in our
filings with the SEC. Investors are urged to consider closely
the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No 1-32575, available on the
SEC website www.sec.gov.
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