In 1998, a secret Shell Oil document discussed a hypothetical scenario in which severe storms, fueled by climate change, result in a class action lawsuit being filed against fossil fuel companies (and the US government) for “neglecting what scientists … have been saying for years: that something must be done.”
And yet, even after that memo, nothing was done. In fact, Shell and other fossil fuel companies worked to delay action on climate change, allowing them to continue making massive profits, while expanding the heat-trapping layer of fossil fuel pollution that causes climate change.
For the County of Multnomah, in Oregon, it was not a severe storm, but the 2021 heat dome and the associated deaths and costs, that convinced it to sue global fossil fuel companies for US$50 Billion this past June. More than 40 U.S. local and state governments have already launched similar lawsuits.
The Sue Big Oil campaign, launched in June 2022, argues that BC communities – and our planet – also desperately need to file a class action lawsuit against global fossil fuel companies.
There are two main reasons.
First, we need to protect taxpayers and communities: we need help paying for the massive costs that climate change currently imposes on our communities, and which will only get worse. The Insurance Bureau of Canada estimates that Canadian local governments need about $5.3 billion a year to keep their residents safe from the impacts of climate change. Climate costs can be as dramatic as the deaths from the 2021 heat dome or the billions that Abbotsford and Merritt need to rebuild and prevent future flooding. Or they can be as invisible (but nonetheless real) as damaged roads and overwhelmed storm drains from increased rain and storms.
Our local government elected officials would be fiscally irresponsible to just pass these costs onto taxpayers without making good faith efforts to recover a fair share from the industry that has made unprecedented profits causing the problem.
Climate costs can be as dramatic as the deaths from the 2021 heat dome, or the billions that Abbotsford and Merritt need to rebuild and prevent future flooding.
Second, we need to shift the economic factors that convince fossil fuel companies to prioritize short-term profits ahead of a sustainable planet. Oil, gas, and coal look like wealth creating opportunities, not just to the companies themselves, but also to investors, governments, and even the public, as long as they pay nothing for the harm that their products cause. These companies have known that their products would cause climate change since the 1960s and have consistently used their influence to weaken climate policies and advocate for fossil fuel expansion.
These strategies have worked out very well for wealthy executives: Shell’s profits doubled to a record $40 billion in 2022, alongside record-breaking profits at other global oil giants.
In 1992, the world’s governments agreed to take action to stabilize greenhouse gases in the global atmosphere at a safe level. The fact that more than half of the fossil fuel pollution in the atmosphere has occurred after that commitment is due in no small part to the efforts of the fossil fuel industry. We may all be responsible for climate change, but that means that the fossil fuel industry is also responsible and must pay for a share of the harm that it has knowingly caused.
Thousands of British Columbians have already signed the Sue Big Oil declaration, asking their local government to work to keep us safe from the impacts of climate change. We ask that they work alongside other local governments to bring a class action lawsuit against fossil fuel companies and to set aside $1 per resident for that purpose. By pooling resources, local governments can keep the costs of this case manageable. So far, the municipalities of Gibsons and View Royal have signed on, and Sue Big Oil teams in many other communities around the province are asking their local governments to follow suit.
Sometimes people worry that a lawsuit against fossil fuel companies won’t solve climate change or is a distraction from “real work.” Personally, the Sue Big Oil campaign gives me hope. Without a financial incentive for change, the fossil fuel industry will continue to lobby vigorously to prevent governments from doing anything that might reduce the profits of the fossil fuel industry.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada estimates that Canadian local governments need about $5.3 billion a year to keep their residents safe from the impacts of climate change.
Sue Big Oil uses existing laws to directly confront those “profits” and insists that fossil fuel companies take responsibility for the harm that they cause. We can even sue global companies like Shell and ExxonMobil for their global emissions because the harm happened in Canada.
While a lawsuit to recover local government climate costs may take some time, and is not guaranteed to succeed, the moment the case is filed companies will need to notify their shareholders that they are being sued, affecting business decisions. A recent review of climate lawsuits by the Grantham Institute at the London School of Economics demonstrates that fossil fuel industry stocks take a hit both when cases against them are filed and when they are won.
The goal of Sue Big Oil is to recover costs of climate change, but also to transform how BC communities see the impacts of climate change and the responsibility of the fossil fuel economy for those costs. The alternative is that we continue to pretend that our governments will put our safety ahead of short-term economic profits in the fossil fuel economy. I hope that you will join us in demanding that our governments grapple with the real costs of climate change and take concrete steps to hold global fossil fuel companies accountable.
What you can do to help Sue Big Oil:
- Sign the Sue Big Oil Declaration at www.suebigoil.ca.
- Get your friends, neighbours and family to sign too!
- Share about #SueBigOil on social media.
- Volunteer with the growing Sue Big Oil movement. Contact us at info@suebigoil.ca
- Check out (and share) the campaign’s resources, including info for regional districts and municipal candidates.
- Read more at www.suebigoil.ca
Andrew Gage is the head of West Coast Environmental Law’s climate program and part of the Secretariat to the Sue Big Oil Campaign.
