Climate Change Litigation: Analysing the Law Scientific Evidence and Impacts on the Environment Health and Property

Abstract

In the absence of mandatory requirements on companies and governments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, advocacy groups, public authorities and individuals are turning their attention to legal mechanisms as part of their efforts to compel corporations and governments to address global warming issues. Written for lawyers, business managers, policy makers, environmentalists and others with an interest in law and sustainability issues, this book provides a detailed overview and analysis of the key legal and scientific issues at the core of climate change litigation. The text reviews potential grounds of liability, the strengths and weaknesses of plaintiff and defendant arguments and summarizes the first wave of ground-breaking law suits that have occurred over recent years. Within this legal framework, the text adopts an interdisciplinary examination and critical analysis of current scientific evidence supporting the consensus position on global warming, a key concern being the extent to which it meets legal thresholds for establishing causation between greenhouse gas emitting activities of defendants and harms suffered by plaintiffs. Legal arguments supporting the position of global warming sceptics are also outlined and critiqued. The text also reviews risk, governance and policy issues that litigation poses for corporations.