230 Lawsuits Filed Against Fossil Fuel Industry

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Government lawsuits against fossil fuel companies are rising quickly. Most suits cite the damage caused but also that these organizations knew years ago of the risk of their actions on the climate. According to The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, in new research titled “Global trends in climate change litigation: 2024 snapshot” report found, “Strategic climate cases continued to be filed against companies, with about 230 such cases now identified from 2015 to the present.” Most suits have several things in common. These include “climate washing,” demands that polluters pay penalties for their actions, pressure to get companies to keep obligations that they and their industries made when speaking publicly about their climate change mitigation goals, and suits against corporate management and the board of these companies.

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More recently, the report says about 2023: “Many of these are seeking to hold governments and companies accountable for climate action. However, the number of cases expanded less rapidly last year than previously, which may suggest a consolidation and concentration of strategic litigation efforts in areas anticipated to have high impact.” This was true of the tobacco lawsuits, which cost the industry $206 billion over 25 years. Forty-six attorneys general banded together in the action, which included payments by Philip Morris Inc., R. J. Reynolds, Brown & Williamson, and Lorillard.

Climatecrisis247 believes that the results of these suits may not be similar to those in Big Tobacco cases decades ago. The tobacco industry was forced to pay out tens of billions of dollars in penalties. However, in those cases, courts could point to individuals who had their health directly harmed by smoking. The link between the actions of fossil fuel companies and direct damage to people and businesses may be harder to prove.