Statoil sued for climate emissions

Statoil Oil Rig Climate GasOil Rig. Photo: Pixabay

Statoil is sued for climate emissions

Two counties and a city in California sue 37 oil, gas and coal companies – among them Statoil – for contributing to large scale climate gas emissions.

 

The emissions contribute to rising sea levels, the plaintiffs write in a press release, according to Dagens Næringsliv.

Both San Mateo County, Marin County and the city of Imperial Beach can be hard hit as the ocean rises. They have therefore sued 37 of the companies that have contributed most to global emissions of greenhouse gases. On this list are Exxon, Shell and Statoil.

Information director Bård Glad Pedersen in Statoil says to Dagens Næringsliv that this is not the first lawsuit of this type.

Earlier lawsuit has been rejected on the grounds that it is a political, not legal question, how we will be able to meet both the climate challenge and at the same time supply the world with the necessary energy.

Difficult, but not impossible

The lawyer, Michael Burger points out that there are some new aspects to the case now being dealt with by the California judiciary.

– The plaintiffs believe the companies have failed to warn properly about the damage that climate emissions may cause, says Burger, who heads the Judicial center for climate issues at the University of Columbia, to the website InsideClimateNews.

He believes it will be difficult, but not impossible, to win the case. One challenge will be to show that the emissions from exactly these 37 companies contribute to the rising sea level in California.

 

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today