Nuevo estudio: Riesgos financieros para las empresas por el aumento de litigios sobre daños climáticos

Key points:

• A case brought by a Peruvian farmer against German electricity producer RWE has already set a precedent that fossil fuel companies can be held liable in court for climate damages. The hearing is expected to take place in March 2025.
• Regardless of the result, the use of courts and legal mechanisms to demand compensation for climate impacts will grow as emissions and the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events continue to rise.
• This is particularly the case in the Global South, where climate impacts are most severe. Adaptation and loss and damage remain significantly underfunded by the Global North, which is responsible for the majority of global emissions. 
• Alongside the pressures that are driving legal claims, advances in attribution science now make it increasingly possible to link extreme weather events to increased greenhouse gas emissions, primarily from the burning of fossil fuels.
• To date there have been 68 lawsuits filed seeking financial redress for the impacts of climate change, of which 43 are still ongoing. The fossil fuel industry has been the target of 54% of these cases. ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and BP have each had more than 20 cases filed against them.[1]
• Legislation is an increasingly significant risk for fossil fuel firms, particularly in the Philippines and the US, where states such as Vermont and New York are seeking billions of dollars for climate damages.
• Estimates of climate damages vary, but they could reach trillions of dollars globally. Researchers have estimated that by 2049 there will be USD 38 trillion in climate damages each year. Climate Analytics has calculated that the share of climate damages attributable to the 25 biggest emitting oil and gas companies for their emissions from 1985 to 2018 totals about USD 20 trillion.
• Companies and investors face additional risks from climate litigation such as deteriorating share prices, reputational damage, reduced creditworthiness and increased financing costs.