Corporations, especially those engaged in fossil fuel production, agriculture, construction, and transportation, play a significant role in the climate crisis and in its human rights impacts. Holding businesses responsible for their human rights and environmental harms has been a perennial challenge that has become increasingly acute in the climate crisis. […]
corporate liability
5 posts
Introduction On November 12, 2024, the Dutch Court of Appeal in The Hague issued its eagerly awaited appeals judgment in Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands) and others v. Royal Dutch Shell. The applicants sought an injunction declaring that Shell is legally bound to reduce its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions […]
In the first months of 2024, legislators in four states—Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont—have pushed for legislation that would collectively require large fossil fuel producers and refiners to pay for hundreds of billions of dollars of state-level climate adaptation infrastructure. E&E News reports that similar legislation may soon be […]
In October 2022, French environmental NGOs Notre Affaire à Tous, Les Amis de la Terre, and Oxfam France sent a notice of intent to sue BNP Paribas. Considering the answer by BNP Paribas, sent on January 24, 2023, as largely insufficient and unsatisfactory, the NGOs brought a suit before the […]
On February 9, 2023, ClientEarth filed a derivative action against the Board of Directors of Shell at the High Court of Justice in England and Wales (ClientEarth v. Shell’s Board of Directors). The lawsuit alleges that the Board has failed to manage material and foreseeable climate risks, therefore breaching UK […]