'Climate washing' lawsuits jump as more activists challenge corporate claims, report shows - Yahoo Finance
'Climate washing' lawsuits jump as more activists challenge corporate claims, report shows
By Tommy Wilkes
LONDON, June 29 (Reuters) - "Climate washing" litigation has risen sharply in the last two years as environmental groups and governments grow frustrated with corporate claims about their contribution to tackling climate change, a report published on Thursday showed.
The report, compiled by London's Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, defines 'climate washing' as cases that challenge companies, and occasionally governments, over misinformation or misleading green claims.
In the last year, 26 climate washing cases were filed globally against companies, down slightly from 27 in 2021, but up sharply from the previous two years, the institute said in its annual report on climate litigation trends.
Lawyers, working on behalf of activists and others frustrated with progress in lowering greenhouse gas emissions, have filed 2,341 climate litigation cases worldwide, half of them since 2015. The majority of cases have been filed in the United States.
"One of the most significant groups of climate-washing cases to emerge in recent years have been cases challenging the truthfulness of corporate climate commitments, particularly where these are not backed up by adequate plans and policies," the report authors, Joana Setzer and Kate Higham, said.
Total climate litigation cases filed in the year to May 31 dipped to 190 from 266 the previous year, but the report found that the diversity of cases was growing.
Climate lawsuits are often targeted at the biggest polluters.
Last week, an Oregon county sued major oil and coal companies, and industry groups, seeking over $50 billion to counter harms caused by extreme weather fuelled by climate change.
The cities of Paris and New York last year joined a coalition of associations and local authorities suing French multinational TotalEnergies for failing to fight climate change adequately, litigation the oil major said it regretted.
Regulators face courtroom pressure too. In February, an environmental charity alleged that Britain's markets watchdog acted unlawfully when approving documents that allowed an oil and gas firm to list in London even though it had failed to properly describe climate-related risks.
Not all climate litigation challenges fossil fuel companies or misleading claims, however, and the report noted a rise in "ESG backlash" litigation in the United States.
Republican politicians in the U.S. are waging a campaign against businesses incorporating environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals into their decision-making. They argue it represents a politically liberal agenda that breaches fiduciary duty.
Businesses and investors have pushed back, saying their commitment to reach net-zero emissions goals is the best approach for delivering investment returns and reducing risk. (Reporting by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”