What to Know About Shell’s Big Court Victory

Current conditions: The Philippines is bracing for another major storm, the fifth in under a month • Warnings are in place for Guam as Tropical Storm Man-Yi approaches • It is about 60 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny in Washington, D.C., where Congress is back in session.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Shell wins appeal to overturn landmark emissions ruling

A Dutch court has overturned a 2021 ruling that ordered oil giant Shell to significantly curb its greenhouse gas emissions. The decision is a “big set back for efforts to use the courts to compel companies to transition faster,” wrote Tom Wilson, an energy correspondent with the Financial Times. The original ruling, issued by a lower court in a case brought by Friends of the Earth and 17,000 Dutch citizens, said Shell had to reduce its emissions by 45% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels. The landmark decision marked the first time a court ordered a private company to align its efforts with the goals of the Paris Agreement. But Shell appealed, arguing that it was already working to reduce its emissions (aiming for a 15-20% reduction by 2030 compared to 2016), that it can’t be held responsible for how customers use its products, and that such rules should be made by governments, not courts. “The Dutch court case may serve as a bellwether, with potential ripple effects on future decisions across the region,” said Bloomberg. The case could go to the Dutch Supreme Court, but it would likely take years to play out.

2. A few updates from COP29

It’s day two of the COP29 climate summit in Baku. Yesterday began with “more than nine hours of backroom bickering over what should be on the agenda,” The Associated Press reported. But even so, there has been some noteworthy progress:

• Negotiators yesterday agreed on rules for international carbon markets. The agreement could provide a mechanism for rich countries to help fund adaptation efforts to the tune of some $250 billion annually. Some hailed the decision as a bright spot, while others said it had been rushed and wasn’t scrutinized by all parties. “We are a long way from halving emissions this decade, but this will help get us back in the race,” said UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell.
• The U.K. is expected to unveil its updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) today, becoming one of the first major countries to do so ahead of the February deadline. Prime Minister Keir Starmer will reportedly announce a goal of curbing emissions by 81% by 2035 compared to 1990 levels, through decarbonizing the grid and expanding offshore wind, plus carbon capture and storage investments.

3. Guterres says COP climate finance deal is ‘a must’

COP figureheads are giving forceful keynote speeches in an attempt to set the tone for the summit at the outset. “The sound you hear is the ticking clock,” said UN Secretary General António Guterres. “We are in the final countdown to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. And time is not on our side.” He called 2024 a “masterclass in climate destruction,” and urged countries to deliver on their promise to move away from fossil fuels, accelerate the energy transition, and put forward bold NDCs in line with the Paris Agreement. And he said “developing countries must not leave Baku empty-handed. A [climate finance] deal is a must.”

Ahead of Guterres’ speech, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev slammed Western critics of his country’s fossil fuel industry. As Reuters put it, “the airing of these opposing views on the main stage underscore the challenge at the heart of the climate negotiations: many Western states remain dependent on fossil fuels while at the same time seeking to pressure others who produce them into shifting to greener energy sources.”

4. Trump selects Lee Zeldin to lead EPA

President-elect Donald Trump tapped former Long Island Congressman and New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin as head of the Environmental Protection Agency. In his four terms in Congress as the representative from New York’s easternmost congressional district on Long Island, Zeldin did not cut any particular profile on climate, environment, or energy issues, and was best known for his hawkish foreign policy position, reported Heatmap’s Matthew Zeitlin. To the extent Zeldin has defined himself on the environment beyond standard-issue Republican opposition to restrictions on fossil fuels and car purchasing, it’s been in the context of issues specific to his coastal Long Island constituency. During his 2018 congressional campaign, he pointed to his membership in the “shellfish and national estuary caucuses,” as well as federal programs for estuaries and his opposition to expanded offshore drilling exploration at an event hosted by the League of Conservation Voters. Throughout his surprisingly close run against Kathy Hochul for New York’s governor’s mansion in 2022, Zeldin assailed New York’s ban on fracking and criticized New York’s planned phase-out of sales of internal combustion engine vehicles by 2035, as well as the proposal to institute congestion pricing in Lower Manhattan.

5. EPA finalizes methane fees for oil and gas sector

The Biden administration today finalized a rule that sets a fee for excessive methane emissions for major oil and gas producers. Fossil fuel operations are the largest industrial source of methane emissions in the U.S., and the Environmental Protection Agency estimates this rule would prevent 1.2 million metric tons of methane emissions through 2035. The new fees start at $900 per metric ton of methane emitted this year, increasing to $1,200 next year, and $1,500 thereafter. The rule is paired with incentives for companies that fix their leaky infrastructure, and mandated under the Inflation Reduction Act, which CNN reported could make it harder for the incoming Trump administration to revoke.

THE KICKER

“Are we facing new headwinds? Absolutely. But we won’t revert back to the energy system of the 1950s. No way.” –U.S. climate envoy John Podesta on the challenges facing the energy transition under a Trump administration.