Screenshot from La Sexta.

By María Josefina Arce

While the UN Climate Summit was taking place in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, debating the negative consequences of climate change and trying to unite efforts to combat it, a decision by an appeals court in the Netherlands ruled that the multinational oil company Shell can continue to pollute the planet.

The multinational succeeded in overturning a landmark decision in 2021 that required it to reduce CO2 emissions by 45% by 2030, in line with international commitments to curb climate change.

It was the first time, experts recall, that a court had ruled that a company must align its policies with the Paris Agreement, signed in the French capital in 2015.

The agreement aims to reduce carbon emissions in order to limit the rise in average global temperatures to between 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius, thus limiting the devastating effects of climate change that threaten the entire world.

But once again, history is repeating itself. The reality is that when these companies are implicated in environmental disasters, justice is unfortunately slow to come, if it comes at all.

And transnational corporations continue to act irresponsibly, putting profits ahead of protecting the planet and violating human rights, because the two are linked.

Shell, of course, is no exception. Discovered documents show how, more than 50 years ago, the oil company supported scientific research that warned of the dangers of fossil fuels for the environment and society.

Despite being aware of the negative impact of its actions, the multinational supported publications that minimized or disregarded the risks to the planet and promoted the use of fossil fuels.

But as we know, Shell is not the only one. There is a long list of transnationals that are aware of the damage their activities cause to the environment and to humanity.

And most regrettably, as UN Secretary General António Guterres pointed out in Baku, "the sound you hear is the ticking of the clock. We are in the final countdown to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees, and time is not on our side.