A Dutch court verdict against Royal Dutch Shell will determine whether it has a legal responsibility for climate change, in a case that will be watched by Big Oil executives globally. Oil companies around the world have a so-called duty of care they must respect in the countries they operate to avoid oil spills and other non-deliberate acts of pollution. At last count, there were close to 1,700 climate change cases targeting governments and companies, according to the climatecasechart.com database. "Judges around the world are being confronted by climate change cases and are looking to other judges for points of reference," said Michael Burger, executive director of Columbia Law School’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. Holding a corporation liable for violating the Paris Agreement to which it’s not a signatory may not be compatible with international law.

Source: News 24 May 25, 2021 05:37 UTC