In a move that risks fueling the debate over the responsibility of oil companies in the global climate crisis, New York City announced on Wednesday that it is suing five fossil fuel giants. She accuses them of having caused the upheavals which are already causing very costly impacts for the American megalopolis.
The New York lawsuit directly targets five of the major multinationals in the oil industry, BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Shell. In unequivocal language, the documents filed in court present them as companies “which have done everything in their power to create this existential threat.”
In a written statement released Wednesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio also recalled that oil companies had been aware for several years of the reality of climate change, but that they knowingly “deceived the public to protect their profits”.
An analysis published last year by Environmental Research Letters was confirming that ExxonMobil had known since the 1980s that climate change was real and caused by human activities, but publicly maintained doubts about this reality.
According to the mayor of New York, the five heavyweights of the fossil fuel sector must therefore contribute to the financing of the plan that the City must absolutely implement “to protect the city and its citizens against the severe impacts of climate change already underway and to come up “. Deeming his city “exceptionally vulnerable”, Bill de Blasio also stressed Wednesday that this unprecedented environmental crisis represents “the most important challenge” of the coming decades.
Already in 2016, New York launched a program of more than $ 20 billion to prepare for the growing impacts of climate change, including rising sea levels, the increase in extreme weather events and heat waves. . And the threat is very real. For example, the hurricane Sandy, which hit the region in 2012, cost New York State more than $ 40 billion.
American movement
The documents filed within the framework of the legal proceedings do not mention a precise amount claimed from companies, but the “damages” that would be awarded by the courts would be used directly to finance the measures taken by the City to fight against the consequences of climate change.
New York is not the first American city to file a lawsuit against oil companies BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Shell. Last September, San Francisco and Oakland launched similar proceedings against the same multinationals and claiming their responsibility in climate change, but also for the financing of adaptation measures for cities.
The two cities also insisted that the oil companies already knew, more than 30 years ago, that greenhouse gas emissions attributable to fossil fuels were causing changes in the planet’s climate.
ExxonMobil, however, responded by launching a counter-suit in which it claims that the actions of San Francisco and other cities constitute an “abuse of political power”.
Discontented oil companies
Unsurprisingly, the companies targeted by the New York lawsuit all denounced the move on Wednesday. “This type of legal action […] against an industry that offers products on which we all rely to make the economy work and live on a daily basis is not one, ”said a spokesperson for ExxonMobil, in an interview with Agence France-Presse .
Chevron denounced action “without a factual or legal basis,” which “will do nothing to address the serious issue of climate change”, while Shell stressed that global warming must be addressed “by reasonable government policies and cultural change” , not “by the courts”.
Environmental groups have for their part welcomed the New York initiative. According to Greenpeace, this would also have a “good chance” of success, like the lawsuits brought in recent years against tobacco manufacturers.
The task promises to be very difficult, however, believes lawyer Karine Péloffy, director general of the Quebec Center for Environmental Law. Certainly, organizations like the Carbon Disclosure Project have already published analyzes that demonstrate, with some precision, the “historical responsibility” of oil companies for planetary greenhouse gas emissions.
“There is therefore a legal basis, according to Me Péloffy. It is possible, but it will not be easy. And in the case of the tobacco companies, between first resort and first victory, 42 years have passed. “
Lawyer at BCF Business Lawyers, Shaun Finn emphasizes for his part that this kind of case seems complex, in particular because of the still relatively “preliminary” nature of the precise knowledge on the various aspects of climate change. He thus recalls that in such an action, it must be established that there was indeed “fault” on the part of the undertakings, but also the “damage” suffered and the “causal link” to be demonstrated.
Divestment from the fossil fuel sector
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