A new study published by the Oxford Sustainable Law Programme and Environmental Change Institute has provided evidence that lawyers have failed to use the most up-to-date scientific evidence on the cause of rising temperatures.
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The study, published in the interdisciplinary science journal, Nature Climate change is a first-of-its-kind study on the use and interpretation of climate-science evidence in lawsuits.
As a result of the study, about 1,500 climate-related lawsuits have been brought to the courts in many countries around the world. There even have been a few successful claims for compensation, like the landmark decision in the Netherland’s Shell case.
A Dutch court ordered the oil giant, Shell Group to cut the CO2 emissions by 45 percent, by the year 2030.
The environmentalist group, Friends of the Earth (FoE) said in a statement that, “this is really a great news and a gigantic victory for the earth, our children and for all of us.
The judge leaves no doubt about it: Shell is causing dangerous climate change and must now stop it quickly.”
![Groundbreaking study on climate litigation by Oxford University Dutch Court Clears Doctor in Euthanasia of Dementia Patient - The New York Times](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2019/09/11/world/11netherlands-euthanasia/merlin_159743397_0a4593fb-40f7-4537-acd9-13f621ebaaa4-superJumbo.jpg)
Giving a solid base to these litigations, the Oxford study will make the cases hold the companies accountable for the damages of climate breakdown.
Rupert Stuart-Smith, the lead author on the paper told The Guardian, “It’s no longer far-fetched to think that these companies can be taken to court successfully.
The strength of evidence is bolstering these claims, and giving a firm evidentiary basis for these court cases.”
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Further pressing on the research’s claims, he said, “It’s possible that we will see precedents made that will make it easier to file future lawsuits on climate impacts.”
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Earlier the courts failed to establish a direct link between climate degradation and the firm’s specific role in it. But the research in the paper provides more up-to-date scientific methods to bridge the gap.
“There’s increasing concern within the fossil fuel industry, and among investors, that these cases seem to have merit and have a chance of success and the risk perception of investors in the fossil fuel industry could quite rapidly change [so that] emissions could become seen as liabilities,” said Rupert Stuart-Smith.