A report by the London School of Economics found that climate campaigners are suing energy companies to stop the use of fossil-fuels.
The LSE has found that there are currently 132 climate-related cases in British law, an increase from the 102 cases a year earlier. This makes the UK the third most active centre of climate litigation after the US, Australia and Canada.
The LSE predicted that the number of environmental cases would increase this year, and that lawyers will continue to pioneer new concepts in law such as “ecocide”.
They want to bind executives of oil and gas companies with legal actions or even trials on the basis that emissions in their products kill people.
The report was authored by Dr Joana Sezer and Cathy Higham from the LSE Grantham Climate Research Institute. It stated: “Increasingly we see the physical and mental impacts of climate changes becoming the focus for litigation – both as scientific evidence and the lived experience of people with those impacts develop.”
With a total of 1745, the US has the most climate cases that are still active. In America, 129 more cases were filed last year. Australia has 132 cases.
The report is released just before the UK’s biggest environmental case ever, which will be brought over the collapse of Fundao Dam, in southeast Brazil in 2015. BHP, an UK-based mining company, was responsible for the dam.
The disaster claimed the lives of 19 people, and caused destruction to thousands of homes and businesses. BHP is being sued for damages by 700,000 plaintiffs.
This case, scheduled for an October hearing at the London High Court, will likely set precedents for future climate litigation.
The study is a follow-up to the Supreme Court’s ruling last month on a case brought by an environmentalist who was acting alone. The court ordered that in the future, planning authorities evaluating new drilling sites should account for emissions from burning fossil fuels.
The UK industry is in turmoil and unsure if they can ever develop another gas or oil field. This ruling could be the final nail for the UK’s fracking prospects.
Shell and BP are the UK’s largest oil and gas companies. Offshore Energies UK, a trade association for the industry, is also a member. All three companies declined to comment.
Emma Montlake, of the Environmental Law Foundation (which promotes climate litigation), said that she expects a surge in cases against energy companies, governments, and other entities.
She said: “As the climate chaos unfolds and as sea levels rise and other impacts worsen, more and more people will be asking how they can get legal reparations from those who knew of the effects but concealed their conclusions.”
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