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Analysis and Environment

How courts and investors are forcing big oil companies to clean up

By Adam Vaughan

28 May 2021

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Lawyer Roger Cox (left) and Donald Pols, director of Friends of the Earth Netherlands, celebrate the court decision

REMKO DE WAAL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

This has been a seismic week for international oil and gas companies that have been slow to transition into clean energy firms – but are now being forced to change faster by courts and investors.

The most significant moment came on Wednesday, when a Dutch court ordered Anglo-Dutch firm Shell to cut its carbon emissions by 45 per cent by 2030, vitally including emissions from the products it sells. It was the first time a court anywhere has ruled…

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