Shell Knew

Two and a half years ago, American outlet InsideClimate News broke a very important piece of news that has completely changed the fight against climate change worldwide. They published a number of documents that revealed that Exxon knew, many decades ago, that climate change was real, that it was serious and that it was produced by greenhouse gas emissions. The important detail: Exxon never told anyone. They did the opposite: They tried to tangle up the discourse in doubt. Doubt they didn't have in private.

Last year, Dutch independent portal De Correspondent unearthed a 1991 VHS from Shell that made similar prophetic claims. The VHS, however, was public, so the Netherlands-based oil company never faced the same judgment as their American counterparts.

Until this week.

Again, De Correspondent has published Shell classified documents, from 1988, that prove that the multinational company had known the gravity of global warming since at least two years earlier. The documents go as far as to claim that, once the effects were noticeable it would be too late to react. The papers leave no doubt. Shell knew. And, like Exxon, it strived to sew doubt into the public discourse, as the leaked documents show.

This week, NGO Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth's branch in the Netherlands) announced it will take oil giant Shell to court in 8 weeks. The company can avoid the legal action if, in that time, it makes clear its plans to comply with the Paris Agreement. This is unlikely to happen (as the NGO's demands require that Shell stops any new oil and gas infrastructure in its tracks). These documents could really make a difference in court.

I would have liked to recommend the original article from De Correspondent, but unfortunately, it's only available in Dutch. That's why I thought InsideClimate News was the second best-qualified outlet to tell this outrageous story. And it's indeed a fine article.

If you'd like to check the documents yourself, they're available here.