Climate Litigation and Liability

Climate litigation is a big topic. The purpose of this list is to give you a sense of how the litigation has evolved over time, and how it continues to evolve. You can explore the topic in much more depth in the Climate Web itself.

• 2003 EPA concludes it cannot regulate GHGs, Massachusetts and other states sue

• 2007/4 Supreme Court in Massachusetts v EPA rules that CO2 should be regulated under Clean Air Act

• 2008/2 Alaskan village of Kivalina files lawsuit against ExxonMobil asking for monetary damages

• 2009 EPA finds that GHGs pose threat to public health and are subject to regulation under CAA

• 2011/6 Supreme Court rules in AEP vs. Connecticut that power companies cannot be held liable for CO2 damages, since CO2 regulated by federal government

• 2012 Obama Administration finalizes gas efficiency standards for cars

• 2015/6 Hawaii passes law to move to 100% renewable energy by 2045

• 2015/8 EPA finalizes Clean Power Plan rulemaking

• 2015/8 U.S. teenagers file Juliana vs US against the federal government for lack of action on climate change, and interference with rights to life, liberty, property

• 2015 Attorneys general of New York, Massachusetts and U.S. Virgin Islands launched investigations of Exxon

• 2015 Hague District Court orders Dutch Government to reduce Dutch emissions by at least 25% by 2020, a stricter requirement than in the Paris Agreement

• 2015 Peruvian farmer brings suit against Germany utility RWE for damages, asking compensation based on RWE’s % of global emissions from 1751 to 2010. German Appeals court held the suit admissable.

• 2015 Scientists suggest to President that climate deceivers be investigated under RICO

• 2016/2 U.S. Supreme Court Blocks Implementation of the Federal Clean Power Plan based on 27 states’ petition

• 2016/2 US Supreme Ct issues stay on Clean Power Plan pending resolution of lawsuits

• 2016/9 SEC probes Exxon over accounting for climate change

• 2016/10 Australian lawyer authors opinion that as a matter of Australian law, companies must engage with climate risks to satisfy duty of carbon and diligence under the Corporations Act

• 2016/10 Federal appeals court upholds ability of government to list species as threatened based on climate projections extending to 2100

• 2016 Conservation Law Foundation sues Exxon based on vulnerability of an Exxon oil tank farm to storm surge and other hazards

• 2016 Exxon investor files securities fraud class action against Exxon based on failure to disclose recognized risks of climate change.

• 2017/5 A Swiss group, Senior Women for Climate Protection, file first ever climate case in Switzerland

• 2017/6 Hawaii passes law to uphold Paris Agreement to limit warming to less than 2oC

• 2017/7 San Mateo County, Marin County, Imperial Beach file suit against fossil fuel companies

• 2017/7 Three California cities file lawsuits against oil companies for nuisance and negligence given climate impacts of their products

• 2017/9 San Francisco and Oakland file climate liability lawsuits against oil produceers to cover costs of sea level rise

• 2017/12 Santa Cruz and Santa Cruz County file lawsuits in California Superior Court against 29 fossil fuel companies

• 2017 In Sinnok v. Alaska a group of children sued the state and the Governor for pro-oil policies that exacerbate the impacts of climate change where they live

• 2018/1 City of Richmond files lawsuit in California Superior Court against 29 fossil fuel companies

• 2018/1 New York City files liability lawsuit for climate-related infrastructure spending

• 2018/2 13 kids sue Washington state for life, liberty and a livable climate

• 2018/3 Federal judge convenes a climate science course in the courtroom as part of case on whether CA cities can hold oil companies liable for impacts of climate change

• 2018/4 Colombian Supreme Court protects youth suing national government for failing to curb deforestation

• 2018/5 King County, Washington, files a lawsuit in King County Superior Court against BP, Chevron, ConocoPhilips, Exxon and Royal Dutch Shell

• 2018/6 Lawsuits by San Franciso and Oakland dismissed and appealed

• 2018/7 Rhode Island and Baltimore file climate damages cases against fossil fuel companies

• 2018/8 EPA issues draft proposal to replace Clean Power Plan

• 2018/10 New York attorney general files fraud case against ExxonMobil for deceiving investors in risk disclosure

• 2018/10 New York sues ExxonMobil for falsely claiming use of an internal price on carbon, which was portrayed as managing future regulatory risk

• 2018/11 Class action law suit filed against the Canadian government for failure to act on climate change

• 2019/3 10 states file Amicus brief in San Francisco's and Oakland's liability case appeal

• 2019/6 Energy companies including Shell and BP supporting a carbon tax bill that would include a liability waivers for past fossil fuel emissions

• 2019/6 What's new in liability litigation is the ability to quantify the relationship between emissions and climate change, and to attribute emissions to specific companies

• 2019/9 Greta Thunberg and 15 other children file a legal complaint against 5 nations over climate crisis through UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

• 2019/12 Dutch Supreme Court rejects appeal of Government against District and Appeals Court decisions, letting a reduction requirement of 25% by 2020 stand.

• 2019/12 New York Court rules for Exxon in securities fraud case

• 2019 NGOs brought suit against French oil company Total, charging a failure to adequately report and mitigate climate risks

• 2020/1 WA State Supreme Court rules that state’s Clean Air Act cannot be applied to companies selling or distributing oil or natural gas, as opposed to directly emitting CO2

• 2020/3 Billionaire hedge fund manager threatens to sue banks for lending money to coal-mining companies

• 2020 Federal Appeals Court finds that Juliana v United States defendants (21 young people) lack standing for their lawsuit

• 2020 Federal Court of Australia declared than Minister of Environment, in approving a mining project, has a duty to take reasonable care to avoid injury or death to persons under 18.

• 2020 Irish Supreme Court rules that Irish National Mitigation Plan does not comply with the Irish Climate Act because too vague in specifying low carbon transition to 2050

• 2021/4 German Constitutional Court holds that German Federal Climate Change Act incompatible with fundamental rights due to vagueness.

• 2021/4 Paris Administrative Court holds that French Government has failed to comply with commitments under the Paris Agreement. Ordered payment of 1 Euro for moral damages, and ordered action by 12/2022.

• 2021/5 District Court of the Hague rules that Shell must cut emissions by 45% by 2030, in first court ruling that companies need to align policies with the Paris Agreement

• 2021/7 Dutch Court orders Shell to reduce its emissions

• 2022/10 Judge resurrects San Francisco suit in California courts

• 2022/11 Dutch Court dismisses damage claims by RWE and Uniper

• 2022/12 Puerto Rico sues fossil fuel companies under RICO statute

• 2022/12 Scientists sue EPA for failing to regulate GHGs under TSCA (the Toxic Substances Control Act)