Dutch pension funds hasten exit from oil and gas sector

PME and Dutch hospitality fund unwind fossil fuel investments in wake of Shell climate case defeat

Dutch pension funds are speeding up divestments from oil and gas companies after a landmark court ruling against Shell spooked investors. The oil major lost a legal battle in May in which a Hague-based court ordered it to deepen its greenhouse gas emissions cuts to 45pc by 2030 compared with 2019 levels, signalling that corporations are increasingly being held legally accountable for their climate impact. Shell says it will appeal against the ruling. One of the Netherlands’ largest pension funds, PME, announced on Friday that it had sold stocks in oil and gas companies—including Shell, BP and Total—and that it would no longer invest in them. The pension fund, which has around €62bn ($73.8bn