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In Europe, You Can Be Sued for Not Taking Action on Climate Change. In the U.S., It’s the Opposite.

Following are edited excerpts from a current report in The Wall Street Journal:

Dutch bank ING is facing trial over its environmental conduct, while asset managers in America are being taken to court for focusing too aggressively on green issues
ING, the biggest bank in the Netherlands, has joined a list of companies and other organizations that have been sued for not doing enough to tackle climate change in Europe and the U.K. This is in contrast to the situation in the U.S., where banks and asset managers have been taken to court for being too intensely focused on making green investments and environmental nonprofits have been thrust into expensive legal battles.

This month, the U.S. fossil-fuel industry secured a victory over environmental charity Greenpeace, which was ordered to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to an oil pipeline company after a jury found the charity liable for defamation and trespassing. Greenpeace has said it will appeal the decision. In December, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said BlackRock and other asset managers were avoiding their fiduciary duty to shareholders by making climate-focused investments instead of investing in markets such as coal in their search for profitable returns.

In the U.S. regulatory sphere, the Securities and Exchange Commission paused its defense of proposed climate-disclosure rules under which large companies would report on their emissions, similar to regulations adopted in Europe and California.

With lawsuits under way on both sides of the Atlantic, companies and charities that operate in both jurisdictions are being put in a bind. In the U.S., being sued for taking action on climate is becoming more likely, especially amid a Trump presidency. In Europe, litigation working in the opposite way is equally likely.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in December that asset managers are avoiding their fiduciary duty to shareholders by making climate-focused investments.

Greenpeace said the litigation it faced recently could set a precedent for further action. “Every step of the way, we’ve emphasized that these types of lawsuits — intended to silence and shut down critics—are part of a growing national attack on our First Amendment rights,” the nonprofit said after the jury decision last week.

A trial last year in Switzerland may have set a precedent. The European Court of Human Rights ruled in favor of a group of elderly Swiss women who argued that their government wasn’t doing enough to fight climate change, putting them at risk of death from heat waves. In effect, it ruled that governments have a responsibility to protect citizens against the effects of climate change.

Comments

  • disgraceful.
  • Meanwhile, Günther Thallinger, a Board member and former CEO of Allianz SE, one of the world's largest insurance companies, says the climate crisis is on track to wipe out huge chunks of economic value.

    Snips:
    The world is fast approaching temperature levels where insurers will no longer be able to offer cover for many climate risks ... (and) without insurance, which is already being pulled in some places, many other financial services become unviable, from mortgages to investments.
    “This applies not only to housing, but to infrastructure, transportation, agriculture, and industry,” he said. “The economic value of entire regions – coastal, arid, wildfire-prone – will begin to vanish from financial ledgers. Markets will reprice, rapidly and brutally. This is what a climate-driven market failure looks like.”
    No governments will realistically be able to cover the damage when multiple high-cost events happen in rapid succession ...
    Of course anyone paying the least bit of attention to the multiple climate disasters of recent years would know this.

    Yes, the issue absolutely affects economy and investment.
  • "Of course anyone paying the least bit of attention to the multiple climate disasters of recent years would know this."

    @AndyJ- I know you didn't mean it this way, but some might interpret that as saying that Trump and his financial dwarves have absolutely no clue about the CLIMATE CHANGE HOAX. I don't think that we're supposed to say things like that any more because it might hurt FD1000's feelings.
  • Oh gosh, @Old_Joe, I sure hope no one takes that comment the wrong way.
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