The Italian oil major Eni is facing the country’s first climate lawsuit, with environmental groups alleging the company used “lobbying and greenwashing," reports The Guardian. “Like other fossil fuel companies, Eni might ultimately be held accountable in court for this pattern of deception and harm,” said Ben Franta.
A confidential report written by Shell in 1989 predicted dire consequences as a result of climate change. Ben Franta described the document as a “bombshell” in an April 2 twitter thread summarising the significance of the scenarios it outlined.
Greenwashing may be one of the greatest emerging legal risks across corporate sectors worldwide, writes Ben Franta in ECGI. "Once a topic of relatively niche concern, the spectre of greenwashing liability continues to grow as more brands seek to portray themselves as climate-friendly and lawyers (and the broader public) get wise to the fact that not all that appears green is what it seems."
According to DeSmog, Europe’s gas industry has ramped up its messaging since Russia invaded Ukraine. Ben Franta commented: "The gas industry wants us to believe that more gas makes us more secure, but more gas leads to more climate change which in reality makes us less secure."
Rupert Stuart-Smith told The Express that communities will increasingly use justice systems to address climate change impacts. People hit by climate change through little to no fault of their own are taking on major polluters – and winning, he said.
Dr Thom Wetzer and Dr Rupert Stuart-Smith of the Sustainable Law Programme feature in a new episode of Al Jazeera’s documentary series, Earthrise.
Al Jazeera’s Earthrise programme explores planetary justice and climate liability, featuring interviews with Dr Thom Wetzer and Rupert Stuart-Smith.
Dr Ben Franta discusses how PR and consultancy firms are helping fossil fuel companies delay the clean energy transition.
Ben Franta, senior climate litigation research fellow at the Oxford Smith School, comments on how the precedents set by previous litigations over tobacco, opioids, and asbestos could play a role in upcoming climate cases. "They are good examples that the legal system can take on big societal harms that the other branches of government frankly are just not addressing,” he said.
In a series of powerful 'hopes' for Egypt, 20 leading researchers from across the University have recorded wishes and warnings in videos and written messages for the delegates to COP27.