A court in The Hague had ordered the Anglo-Dutch multinational to reduce its CO2 emissions by 45% net by the end of 2030 compared to 2019, considering that it was contributing to the disastrous consequences of climate change.
This legal procedure, called "the people against Shell", was launched in April 2019 by several NGOs, including Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace.
More than 17,000 Dutch citizens had also instituted civil proceedings.
The judgment was described as historic by activists, according to whom no other multinational had then been forced by justice to align with the Paris Agreement on the climate.
"We want to be a leader in the energy transition" and "we are accelerating (our) strategy" to "become a net zero emissions company by 2050," Shell said on Tuesday.
But the group "cannot alone directly influence the energy choices of its customers", he stressed.
“It is up to governments to put in place the policies that bring about fundamental changes in the way society consumes energy,” he added.
Along with its goal of net zero emissions by 2050, Shell has said it wants to halve its emissions by 2030 compared to 2016.
After the announcement of the judgment last spring, Shell immediately declared that it intended to appeal, believing that there was no legal basis for the claims of the NGOs and that this process was a political decision. at the governmental level.
The Paris Climate Agreement, signed in 2015, aims to keep the rise in temperatures below 2°C compared to the pre-industrial era.
© 2022 AFP