"Litigation will grow to be a tool to force multinational companies and governments to meet their climate commitments, attorneys and advocates said Saturday at the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow.
“There is obviously a ripple effect of these cases,” Roger Cox, a Dutch environmental attorney who successfully argued a case against Royal Dutch Shell plc,, said at COP26, the 26th meeting of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.
A Dutch court ordered Shell and its global subsidiaries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions 45% below 2019 levels by 2030.
“Everybody starts to believe if it can be done once, it can be done twice,” Cox said. This is “the tobacco moment” for oil and a “starting point” for global climate litigation against oil majors, which are at risk because they have operations worldwide, he said.
More governments and companies may be held liable for voluntary commitments made under the Paris agreement to ensure they protect human rights and do their fair share for the climate, attorneys and advocates said."
Bobby Magill reports for Bloomberg Environment November 6, 2021.
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