Victims of Filipino typhoon sue Dutch energy giant for contribution to climate change

Victims of a deadly 2021 typhoon in the Philippines are demanding compensation from energy giant Shell, claiming that the devastation caused by Super Typhoon Odette — internationally known as Typhoon Rai — was worsened by climate change, partly driven by the company’s carbon emissions.

Shell has denied any legal responsibility for the disaster, which killed more than 400 people and became the second-costliest storm in Philippine history, as reported by Climate Home News.

Nearly 70 Filipinos who lost relatives, sustained injuries, or suffered property damage have sent a “Letter Before Action” to Shell, demanding unspecified compensation. The group says that unless the company provides a satisfactory response, they plan to file a lawsuit in the United Kingdom by mid-December.

The effort is being closely watched ahead of next month’s United Nations COP30 climate summit in Brazil, as campaigners hope it will set a precedent for holding major polluters accountable.

Environmental and human rights groups supporting the initiative — Greenpeace Philippines, the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center, the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice, and Uplift — said they targeted Shell because of its “high historic emissions and early knowledge of the causes and effects of climate change.”

According to the Carbon Majors Database maintained by the nonprofit think tank InfluenceMap, Shell ranks among the world’s top emitters, responsible for about 2.1% of total global greenhouse gas emissions since the industrial revolution.

“We agree that action is needed now on climate change,” a Shell spokesperson told The Associated Press after the letter was delivered to the company’s London headquarters. “As we supply vital energy the world needs today, we are transforming our business to supply lower-carbon fuels for the future. The suggestion that Shell had unique knowledge about climate change is simply not true.”

Shell has faced similar challenges before. Last year, the company succeeded in overturning a Dutch court ruling that had ordered it to sharply reduce its carbon emissions.

The Philippines, one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations, consistently ranks near the top of the Global Climate Risk Index and experiences several deadly storms each year.

The case against Shell cites research by Ben Clarke, an associate at Imperial College London’s Centre for Environmental Policy, who concluded that Typhoon Odette’s heavy rainfall and strong winds were intensified by global warming.

The lawsuit underscores how vulnerable communities are increasingly using legal avenues to seek accountability for climate damage. According to the Grantham Institute, at least 226 climate-related lawsuits were filed worldwide last year, bringing the global total to nearly 3,000 cases across 60 countries.

Climate-related litigation over corporate complicity picks up speed worldwide

Many international precedents exist for this rather new type of legal action. In May 2025, a German court ruled that civil courts could hear cross-border climate lawsuits, in a landmark case brought by a Peruvian farmer against energy giant RWE — a decision seen as ushering in a new era of climate litigation.

Another major victory came when an activist group of over 2,000 elderly Swiss women, known as the “KlimaSeniorinnen” (Climate Pensioners), won the first-ever climate case before the European Court of Human Rights. They argued that their age and gender made them particularly vulnerable to heatwaves and that Switzerland’s emission-reduction efforts were “woefully inadequate.”

By Nazrin Sadigova