Oil and gas industry major Shell has won an appeal in The Hague against a previous court ruling that mandated the company to accelerate its carbon reduction efforts.

This decision is a reversal of the 2021 verdict by the District Court of The Hague that ordered Shell to slash its absolute carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 relative to 2019 levels.

The Court of Appeal of The Hague acknowledged Shell's responsibility to reduce GHG emissions to protect against global warming.

However, it overturned the previous ruling, which included emissions from the use of Shell's products.

Shell CEO Wael Sawan said: “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.”

The court's decision arrives amidst the COP29 UN climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, which faced initial delays due to disagreements over the role of fossil fuels in future discussions.

Presiding Judge Carla Joustra, as reported by Reuters, said: “In general, any reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is positive to mitigate climate change – but that does not mean that a reduction order for Shell has that same effect.”

Environmental group Friends of the Earth Netherlands, the original claimant in the Dutch case, has vowed to persist in its efforts against major polluters.

Separately, Shell, alongside Norway's Equinor, is defending the UK's approval of the development of two North Sea oil and gas fields against environmental campaigners in a Scottish court.

Shell has previously argued that emission reduction mandates should be determined by states, not courts.

Shell has reported that its own production emissions were 30% below 2016 levels last year, indicating progress towards the initial court mandate.

Despite scaling back its renewable operations, Shell plans to invest between $10bn and $15bn in low-carbon energy from 2023 to 2025.