Communities in oil-rich Niger Delta pin hopes on Shell climate case
NELLIE PEYTON AS a legal case over energy giant Shell's planet-heating emissions kicked off in the Netherlands, activists said the health and livelihoods of people in Nigeria's oil-producing region would hinge on its outcome. Royal Dutch Shell faced its first court hearing on Tuesday in a lawsuit brought by environmental and human rights groups in The Hague, the company's headquarters. Seven green groups, including Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth Netherlands, filed the case on behalf of more than 17,000 Dutch citizens who say Shell is threatening human rights by knowingly undermining international climate goals. They are demanding the company…