Insurance companies facilitate climate change by financing fossil fuels — and then seek to raise rates because of the damage it causes. Published October 7, 2024 By Lindsay Fenlock, Senior Researcher at the Center for International Environmental Law, Charles Slidders, Senior Attorney, Financial Strategies at the Center for International Environmental Law, and Nikki Reisch, Director … Read More.
As climate risks increase, insurers are employing “bluelining”—a modern equivalent of redlining. This practice, while not illegal, disproportionately affects minority and lower-income residents, shifting the financial burden of climate change onto those least able to manage it.
Homeowners, already burdened by escalating premiums driven to a large extent by unchecked greenhouse gas emissions, now find themselves dropped by their insurers. Meanwhile, these insurers continue to profit from fossil fuel expansion, further exacerbating climate risks.
This analysis outlines the main critical areas of the upcoming negotiations and key demands from civil society ahead of the COP27 Opening Plenary.
What recent case law and treaty reforms may mean for the future of investment arbitration in the energy sector Download a PDF of this document. As governments step up action to end reliance on fossil fuels, oil, gas, and coal companies may wield investment law as a shield to insulate themselves from the cost of … Read More.
Climate litigation has taken on even greater importance after the failure of COP26 to deliver the action and resources required to accelerate the energy transition and remedy mounting climate harms. As progress in international negotiating rooms stalls, litigation in national and regional courtrooms plays an ever more critical role in efforts to compel urgently needed … Read More.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought international travel to a grinding halt as nations around the world imposed travel restrictions to curb the spread of the virus. The suspension of travel has, in turn, played a role in slashing fossil fuel demand to an unprecedented low and likely accelerated the systemic decline of the oil, gas, … Read More.
Last October, over 35 National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) from around the world met in Geneva to discuss their role in preventing business-related human rights violations and in facilitating access to justice and remedy for victims of such violations. If I were to list every case where corporations have caused environmental harm and human rights … Read More.
“When our great grandchildren look back on the 21st century, they will see that government sanctioned climate destruction was the constitutional issue of this century.” – Julia Olson Thousands watched on as 21 young people returned to court for the latest hearing in Juliana v. United States, a constitutional climate lawsuit also known as Youth … Read More.
“Planet hotter than my boyfriend,” “I’ve seen smarter cabinets at IKEA,” “It’s getting hot in here, so take off all your coals” — these are just some of the many protest signs carried by a mobilization of tens of thousands of students worldwide demanding action to prevent climate change. With strikes in Australia, Belgium, Canada, … Read More.
As the global transition to a low-carbon economy continued to accelerate, the impacts and responses to climate change dominated the news in 2018. The billions of dollars in property damages, lost businesses, and declines in state and local tax revenue in the US continues to reinforce concerns about the urgency of the climate crisis and … Read More.
In August 2015, 21 young people brought a federal climate lawsuit against the US government. The landmark trial was set to begin October 29, 2018, but the Supreme Court recently granted a temporary stay of the case following yet another request from the Trump Administration. Attorneys for the youth plaintiffs have filed a response pointing … Read More.
In yet another frontier of the expanding struggle for climate justice, Rhode Island is the first US state to sue fossil fuel companies for the impacts of climate change. Climate change — with its rising sea levels and more frequent and severe natural disasters, like 2012’s Superstorm Sandy — is already impacting and extensively damaging … Read More.
On April 23, 2018, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued new guidance for private sector employee benefit plans about fiduciary responsibility in the exercise of shareholder rights and in weighing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in investment decision-making. At a time when public pension beneficiaries are expressing concerns about the prudence of retaining fossil … Read More.
On March 7, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order denying the US government’s request for a writ of mandamus in youth climate lawsuit Juliana v. US. Now, this landmark climate case returns to the district court, with the trial date set for October 29, 2018. What is Juliana v. US about? In … Read More.
A new frontier opened today in the struggle for climate justice as EarthRights International (ERI) brings the fight for climate accountability from the coasts to the mountains. In a new case filed in Colorado District Court, Boulder County, San Miguel County, and the City of Boulder filed suit against ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy demanding that the … Read More.
In what has become the go-to intimidation tactic for Exxon and its allies, Exxon has announced that it is launching yet another baseless, vexatious discovery process designed to prove that every city, state, journalist, and nonprofit that investigates the company is part of a massive conspiracy to suppress its constitutional rights. Exxon’s latest targets (and … Read More.
On November 13, a German appeals court agreed to review evidence supporting arguments by Peruvian farmer Saul Luciano Lliuya in his case against German energy giant RWE for the company’s contributions to climate change impacts that are now threatening his Andean home. Lliuya argues that RWE, as one of the world’s biggest emitters of carbon … Read More.
A few weeks ago, California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones fired back against a group of twelve oil and coal states that have threatened legal action over the Climate Risk Carbon Initiative. Now, fourteen environmental organizations are standing together to protect the same initiative from legislative assaults launched against it from within the state. Senate Bill 488, … Read More.
On August 7, 2017 two shareholders of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) filed suit in the Federal Court of Australia alleging that by failing to include a discussion about climate risk in the Bank’s 2016 Annual Report to Shareholders, the Bank had not given “a true and fair view of the financial position and … Read More.
The Saudi government, in an effort to modernize and diversify the economy of Saudi Arabia, is planning to bring Saudi Aramco – an oil company with exclusive rights to Saudi Arabia’s vast oil and gas reserves – public with an IPO. This decision has raised eyebrows, as most observers expect that Aramco’s IPO, even with … Read More.
Last week, California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones fired back against a group of 12 oil and coal state that have threatened legal action over the Climate Risk Carbon Initiative. The threats of legal action began in June 2017, when Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter, the successor to the current EPA administrator Scott Pruitt, sent a … Read More.
This week, three California municipalities – San Mateo County, Marin County, and Imperial Beach – filed complaints against thirty-seven fossil fuel companies, seeking damages for the impacts of climate change. The plaintiffs argue that sea level rise has already done damage and cost money to study and prepare for. These costs will only grow as … Read More.
Exxon may be perpetrating an ongoing fraud on the public. Over the last two years, reporting by the Los Angeles Times, the Center for International Environmental Law and others has exposed that Exxon and other oil companies have known about climate change and its potentially catastrophic impacts for at least 60 years. Instead of sounding … Read More.
Exxon’s efforts to avoid accountability and the company’s campaign of intimidation against CIEL and partners just hit a huge roadblock… In 2015, the New York and Massachusetts Attorneys General opened investigations into whether ExxonMobil misled consumers, investors, and the public about the science linking the burning of their products to climate change. In an effort … Read More.
What is Trillion Dollar Transformation? TDT is a project undertaken by Mercer and CIEL to explore the financial and legal circumstances facing public pension fund fiduciaries in the context of climate change and the financial risks it poses. It encompasses one report each from Mercer and CIEL, and will be followed by in-person events to … Read More.
In order to meet stated climate goals, tremendous capital must be shifted from investments in fossil fuels to renewable energy and other clean assets. The divestment movement, which urges investors to eliminate their holdings in fossil fuels, now has over $3.4 trillion in assets under management pledged to divestment. The divestment movement began with an … Read More.
Two years ago, the early entry into force of the Paris Climate Agreement would have been unthinkable. Today, it is part of a new normal. The world is moving to make its vision of a safer climate a reality, and CIEL is a leader in this fight. But the challenges we face are larger than … Read More.
As the international community prepares for the Paris Climate Agreement to take effect on November 4, there are many reasons to celebrate this historic moment. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon shared his reflections: “What once seemed unthinkable is now unstoppable. Strong international support for the Paris Agreement entering into force is a testament to the urgency … Read More.
On Tuesday, May 3rd, CIEL President Carroll Muffett testified before the California Senate Judiciary Committee in support of Senate Bill 1161. SB 1161 (also known as the “California Climate Science Truth and Accountability Act of 2016”) is at once a common-sense measure and a potential landmark in efforts to ensure climate accountability before the courts. … Read More.
The document trove which we call “Smoke And Fumes” actually began under a different name. Internally, the project was referred to as “What They Knew” for most of its life. This reflected the fact that the research was not about finding the needle in the haystack, or one specific smoking gun, but about exploring the … Read More.
Right before Christmas, Moody’s announced that it is considering downgrading the credit rating of Adani Abbot Point Terminal Pty Ltd. (Abbot Point). Abbot Point is the case profiled in CIEL’s Report (Mis)Calculated Risk. CIEL’s report illustrates how rating agencies are failing to incorporate a dynamic change trajectory into their methodologies. This failure may lead rating agencies to … Read More.
Your energy and advocacy sparked a global momentum shift over the past year, and we are on the cusp of true, transformative change. On all fronts, you have defended your right to a healthy planet. With your support, you help CIEL… Advance Climate Justice For three years, we’ve highlighted the growing legal and financial risks … Read More.
The Adani Abbot Point Terminal Pty Ltd (Abbot Point), a coal export terminal near the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, was the case studied in (Mis)Calculated Risk, which illustrated how rating agencies are failing to incorporate a dynamic change trajectory and thus these agencies could repeat some of the same mistakes that led to the … Read More.
With COP21 on the horizon, countries are kicking their commitments to reduce carbon emissions into high gear. Despite these national commitments, many financial actors are carrying on as though it’s business as usual—in other words, financing projects under the presumption that the current drivers of anthropogenic climate change (the largest being the burning of fossil … Read More.
This is part 3 of a 3 part blog series about recent analyses on climate change and finance: Citi’s ENERGY DARWINISM II: Why a Low Carbon Future Doesn’t Have to Cost the Earth, Economist Intelligence Unit’s The cost of inaction: Recognising the value at risk from climate change, Mercer’s Investing in a Time of Climate … Read More.
Reprinted with permission from the Business and Human Rights Resource Center. This summer, we celebrated a big win for the climate. In a lawsuit brought by Urgenda and nearly 900 co-plaintiffs against the Dutch government (Urgenda Foundation et al. v. The Netherlands), the District Court of The Hague found that the government “acted negligently” when … Read More.
As I wrote about in Part 1 of this blog series, three recent analyses ENERGY DARWINISM II: Why a Low Carbon Future Doesn’t Have to Cost the Earth, The cost of inaction: Recognising the value at risk from climate change and Investing in a Time of Climate Change considerably add to CIEL’s own analysis (Mis)calculated … Read More.
With the recent tumble in world stock markets, prices for fossil fuels have continued their year-plus collapse. Prices for coal and oil are currently low and volatile and now look to be firmly entrenched in systemic oversupply – not a great status quo for an investment or business proposition. Fossil fuel oversupply and the attendant … Read More.
In a landmark case (Urgenda v. Netherlands), the Dutch advocacy group Urgenda will argue today that the Dutch government’s emissions reduction target is not adequate to prevent dangerous climate change and, as a result, poses a threat to human rights in the Netherlands and in countries around the world. Specifically, Urgenda claims that the Dutch … Read More.
Climate Change threatens to destroy the ecological balance of our world… and our pocketbooks? For those who have invested money in fossil fuels, it’s time to be concerned. By Blanche Helbling Communications Intern Two of the largest fossil fuel companies in the world, BP and Shell, each recently received shareholder resolutions asking them to divulge … Read More.
Last month, 295 Stanford professors asked that the university divest from coal. They wrote that to limit global warming to 2°C (the currently-agreed international goal), the global community: “must cap carbon dioxide emissions at 565 gigatons. Because companies currently own fossil-fuel holdings sufficient to produce 2795 gigatons of carbon dioxides, the risk is clear: 2795 … Read More.
Under pressure from the global community (including CIEL), Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global has divested from some companies in the fossil fuel industry and is considering divesting from more. The Fund announced this week that during 2014 it divested from more than 20 companies with operations in coal mining, oil sands, and coal-fired power production. … Read More.