A lot of action against the companies is also forward looking, looking at their climate targets as in the Shell case. Some claims also now are trying to obtain compensation from companies because of how much they have known about the detrimental impacts of the products that they sell or create. There's then another strand of litigation against companies that tries to tackle the misleading and false statements that have been made about their climate plans. I think this is particularly pernicious once we see a whole swathe of net zero targets being announced but none of their actions are meeting their promises.
The last several years have seen a big increase in the number of lawsuits focused on the climate crisis. Some lawsuits challenge governments for their support for fossil fuels and for their failure to take climate action, while other cases target the fossil fuel companies themselves for knowingly misleading the world about the climate disrupting impacts of burning their products. Some of these cases seek monetary damages, others seek to hold governments accountable to their emissions reduction pledges. As more of these cases get their time in court, how powerful can litigation be in forcing action around the climate emergency?
Guests:
Delta Merner, Lead Scientist, Science Hub for Climate Litigation, Union of Concerned Scientists
Korey Silverman-Roati, Senior Fellow, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia Law School
Lucy Maxwell, Co-Director, Climate Litigation Network, Urgenda Foundation
For show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/watch-and-listen/podcasts
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