Corporate lawsuits don't typically end with people pumping their fists in the air,

or openly cheering in the hallways.

But that's what happened recently at the Hague District Court in the Netherlands.

The defendant, the largest company in the country, in fact one of the largest in the world,

Royal Dutch Shell. Yeah, that's Shell, the oil and gas company.

It had been sued by a group of environmental activists who argued

Shell was violating human rights by investing in fossil fuels.

And last week, in the Hague, Judge Larissa Alwyn...

More or less agreed.

The court said Shell must reduce its CO2 emissions by 45% by the year 2030,

which was a way bigger reduction on a much faster timeline than Shell had been planning.

Here's what the CEO of the company told CNBC about Shell's role when it comes to addressing climate change.

There will always be concern and challenge. I think a lot of people would agree with me that

been not moving fast enough as a society to address the challenge of climate change.

Of course, Shell plans to appeal the court decision. But the ruling? It's a shift in the way

courts have held companies responsible for climate change. And that's why climate activists

outside Hague District Court were... It's enormous. It's phenomenal. It's historical.

So, it's so enormous in there. Downright emotional.

For the first time in history, a judge has ordered a large polluter to reduce

its CO2 and reduce its contribution to dangerous climate change. It's phenomenal.

This is Donald Poles, Director of Friends of the Earth, Netherlands.

For the first time, I have hoped that we will manage to address climate change.

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