2025 Research Workshops

Climate on Trial: Lessons from the Milieudefensie v Shell case - 13 February 2025, T.M.C. Asser Instituut

On 13 February 2025, the T.M.C. Asser Instituut, in collaboration with SEVEN - the Climate Institute (University of Amsterdam), organised a panel discussion on the implications of the Court of Appeal's Milieudefensie v Shell judgment from different angles and explored its significance for future climate accountability strategies. The Court of Appeal ruled that, whilst Shell was not legally compelled to meet a specific 45% emissions reduction target, states and private actors nonetheless have a shared responsibility under international human rights law to combat climate change that can influence private law obligations. This coincided with the European Union's newly adopted Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. The discussion explored themes including the shared responsibilities of states and private actors in addressing climate change, the horizontal effect of human rights obligations on corporate conduct, the evolving legal landscape of corporate climate accountability and the use of strategic litigation, and the role of international guidelines and emerging EU directives in shaping corporate climate strategies. The panel was moderated by Stephanie Triefus (Asser Institute), and included speakers Andre Nollkaemper (founder of SEVEN, University of Amsterdam), Sjoukje van Oosterhout (Senior team lead of Milieudefensie in the climate case against Shell), Anneloes Kuiper (Utrecht University) and Chiara Macchi (Wageningen University & Research).