News

Climate litigation poses a financial risk to fossil fuel companies because it lowers the share price of big polluters, research has found. The researchers hope their work will encourage lenders, financial regulators and governments to consider the effect of climate litigation when making investment decisions in a warmer future, and ultimately drive greener corporate behaviour. (Article from The Guardian) Read More

A peer-reviewed study from the Union of Concerned Scientists found that 37 percent of the total area scorched by forest fires in the western United States and southwestern Canada since 1986 can be attributed to heat-trapping emissions traced to the world’s 88 largest fossil fuel producers and cement manufacturers. The study offers policymakers, elected officials, and legal experts a scientific basis for holding fossil fuel companies accountable for the impacts of their products and their decades-long deception efforts. (Report from Union of Concerned Scientists USA) Read More

The world’s top fossil fuel companies owe at least $209bn in annual climate reparations to compensate communities most damaged by their polluting business and decades of lies, a new study calculates. (Article from The Guardian) Read More

The supreme court on Monday rebuffed an appeal by major oil companies that want to face the litigation in federal courts, rather than in state courts, which are seen as more favorable to plaintiffs. The cases have been compared to tobacco lawsuits in the 1990s that resulted in a settlement of more than $200bn and changed how cigarettes are advertised and sold in the US. (Article from The Guardian) Read More

A coalition of Canada’s six largest oil sands companies is facing a new complaint with the Competition Bureau for an advertising campaign that Greenpeace Canada says is spreading dangerous climate disinformation. (Article from Ricochet Media) Read More

At the evening’s council meeting on March 7th, 2023, there was a unanimous vote for the Town of Gibsons to work with other local governments in BC to file a class action lawsuit to recover costs from global fossil fuel companies. (Article from the Coast Reporter) Read More

It is critical that the majority – and especially the 39% who strongly support their local governments suing Big Oil – speak out to answer questions and correct misunderstandings to bring people into this campaign. In this post we respond to some of the social media mudslinging and questions/criticisms circulating on the internet. (Article from West Coast Environmental Law) Read More