Climate activist group Friends of the Earth Netherlands (Milieudefensie) has filed a fresh lawsuit against Shell in the Dutch courts, demanding an immediate cessation of the energy giant’s investments in new oil and gas projects. The case, launched on Tuesday, escalates a long-running legal battle over the company’s role in global carbon emissions.
The summons specifically targets Shell’s recent strategic pivot. Following the energy market volatility triggered by the Ukraine war, Shell—alongside several industry peers—has scaled back renewable operations and revised its emissions targets. Last year, the company informed investors of plans to increase liquefied natural gas (LNG) sales by up to 5% annually and maintain “material” oil production well beyond 2030.
“Shell must stop bringing new oil and gas fields into production,” Friends of the Earth Netherlands stated in the filing. “This is necessary to protect us from Shell’s climate-disrupting activities.”
Shell has dismissed the litigation as “unreasonable, unrealistic and fundamentally misplaced,” arguing that a forced halt to its production would simply shift market share to other companies without reducing global fossil fuel demand.
A continuing legal conflict
The new lawsuit builds upon a significant 2024 appeals court ruling. While that court scrapped a previously mandated carbon reduction target for Shell, it explicitly noted that the company’s continued investment in new fossil fuel projects could be at odds with its obligation to protect citizens from climate change. However, because investment plans were not part of the original demands, the court could not issue a formal order—a gap this new filing seeks to close.
Despite Shell moving its headquarters from The Hague to London in 2022, activists maintain that Dutch courts retain jurisdiction because the company’s global activities cause direct climate damage within the Netherlands.
A hearing date for the new case has yet to be determined, as the original litigation continues its progress toward the Dutch Supreme Court.
