Climate lawsuits against companies complicate achieving the climate goals, writes Ingrid Thijssen, chairman of the employers’ organization VNO-NCW in the FD Today.
“What matters is that we all want to achieve the climate goals together”, Thijssen clarifies in the NOS Radio 1 News. “Law cases do not help, because they create uncertainty for companies.”
Lawsuits are now succeeding because government frameworks are lacking, she says. According to her, reducing CO2 emissions is an operation on a scale that we only know from the reconstruction after the Second World War. “The government must coordinate strongly, otherwise we will not achieve the climate goals.”
Human rights violation
Milieudefense, which last year forced through the courts that Shell had to reduce CO2 emissions, says in response that the organization agrees with Thijssen that politics is too late, but that the club will continue to go to court in the meantime. “It is a life-threatening crisis and for human rights violations you go to court,” said a spokesperson. In the ruling in the case against Shell, the judge said that Shell’s CO2 emissions pose serious risks that affect the human rights of residents.
Last month, the environmental organization sent letters to 29 big companiescalling for a drastic cut in CO2 emissions by 2030, and the threat of legal action.
Investment climate
According to Milieudefensie, there are already frameworks that companies can adhere to. “We have known for years through science that global warming should be limited to 1.5 degrees,” said the spokesperson. “We hold companies to those frameworks by going to court.”
According to Thijssen, there is a lack of legislation and regulations about how we are going to achieve the goals. In addition, lawsuits would worsen the investment climate. Abroad, it is striking what is going on in the Netherlands, she says. “That is certainly a discussion in boardrooms, of both Dutch and foreign companies, whether or not they will make their sustainable investments here.”
If clear regulations are introduced in the EU that go far enough, that problem will become less of an issue, says Milieudefensie. “Then we don’t have to go to court and the rules are the same in different countries.”
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