ING targeted in new Dutch climate legal case January 21,2024

By AFP Agence France Presse

The Dutch climate activists who won an

historic court battle against Shell now has a new target -- top Dutch bank ING.

Milieudefensie, the Dutch branch of Friends of the Earth, said Friday they

have started legal proceedings against ING, and warned that other top

companies could be next.

"ING is the biggest bank in the Netherlands and finances polluting

companies with more money than all other Dutch banks," the group said in a

press release.

The group's director Donald Pols said ING is responsible for more emissions

than Sweden, with 99 percent of them stemming from loans and working with

highly polluting companies.

It called on ING to slash these CO2 emissions by 48 percent by 2030

compared to 2019 levels.

"The bank finances oil and gas companies, deforestation and heavy industry,

all of which add to the climate crisis," he said.

ING said in a statement to AFP it would "of course respond in court if

necessary."

They added that it is "confident that we take impactful action to fight

climate change and sustainability is part of our overall strategic direction."

ING pointed to measures announced in December to phase out financing

upstream oil and gas activities by 2040.

The bank also indicated a pledge to triple new financing of renewable power

generation to 7.5 billion euros ($8.2 billion) annually by 2025, up from 2.5

billion euros in 2022.

"ING is taking baby steps in the right direction... nevertheless, Friends

of the Earth Netherlands believes this policy is still highly inadequate," the

activists said.

- 'Historic' verdict -

In 2021, Milieudefensie won a major Dutch court battle against Shell, when

judges ordered the oil giant to slash carbon emissions by 45 percent by 2030,

saying the company was contributing to the "dire" effects of climate change.

At the time, campaigners hailed as "historic" the verdict that for the

first time a company aligned its policy with the 2015 Paris Climate Accords.

"What applies to Shell, applies to all large corporations and therefore

also ING: must reduce their contribution to dangerous

climate change," said the group.

Last year, the group put 28 firms on notice, challenging them to produce

plans to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 45 percent by 2030 compared to 2019

levels.

The warning targeted major companies including supermarket group Ahold

Delhaize, paint manufacturer AkzoNobel, BP, chemical firm Dow, ExxonMobil,

airline KLM, consumer goods firm Unilever, and Tata Steel.

The case against ING does not let these other companies "off the hook",

Milieudefensie cautioned.

"Whether you are drilling for oil yourself, or have paid for the drill, in

In both cases, you are contributing to and bearing responsibility for the climate

crisis we are currently experiencing," said the group.

Milieudefensie has launched a fundraising effort to finance the new

lawsuit, saying it needed 300,000 euros ($327,000). It has raised just over 40

percent of the target, according to its website.

Pols said the group had been in talks with the bank since 1990 but the time

had come to take action.

"We've asked nicely enough times."

By Richard Carter

ric/jhe/rl