Fossil fuel execs could face personal legal liability for climate change
May 29, 2014 | By
Barbara Vergetis Lundin
Corporate executives of major fossil fuel companies, including oil, gas, and coal, could face personal liability for opposing policies to fight climate change, and are being put on notice via letter sent jointly by Greenpeace International, World Wildlife Federation (WWF) and the Center for International Environmental Law. The letters, aimed at both fossil fuel companies and their insurance providers, pose the question: "Who will pay the bill if such a lawsuit is brought against their directors or officers?" "[From] asbestos to tobacco to oil spills, history shows that those who mislead the public, the market or the government about the risks of their products, or the availability of safer alternatives, can face substantial legal liability, both as companies and as individuals," said Carroll Muffett, president of the Center for International Environmental Law. "As the impacts of climate denialism and regulatory obstruction become clear, we want to understand how corporations, insurers, and officers and directors are allocating those risks among themselves. Just as importantly, we ask what steps they're taking to prevent the misconduct that creates those risks in the first place." Generally, liability policies provide coverage for claims that put individual directors' and officers' assets at risk. These liability policies protect individuals who are conducting their business in good faith but are at risk of being held liable for undesirable business occurrences, which may be beyond their control. However, Greenpeace and the others raise the question of whether these policies would cover a director facing a climate-related claim. The organizations say they hope that the letter will lead to the truth about the effects of climate change. "Sooner or later, those who hide the facts and oppose policies to fight climate change will be held to account by the courts," said Samantha Smith, head of WWF's Global Climate and Energy Initiative. "By signing this letter, we hope to bring attention to the importance of truthful, transparent and responsible corporate reporting and policy engagement on climate change." The cost of climate change is personal to victims of typhoons and droughts, according to Leanne Minshull, Greenpeace International's Climate and Energy Campaigner, and she wants individual executives to pay the price. "It should also be personal for any oil, gas and coal company directors who mislead the public by funding climate denialism and stopping action on climate change," Minshull said. "The responsibility -- not just the devastating effects -- should be personal." For more:
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