Climate Justice

Here’s yet another article on the legal action that’s being taken, all around the globe apparently, against the oil industry for its conspiracy to cover up the truth about climate change during the period of time in which humankind could have dealt with the problem more quickly and inexpensively. 

From the article: In 2016, the Philippines Commission on Human Rights launched a landmark legal case against fossil fuel companies for violating the human rights of its citizens by driving climate change, and this week the government of the low-lying Pacific nation of Vanuatu said it was also considering taking legal action against fossil fuel firms, banks and governments that knowingly contribute to the climate crisis. Five other island nations have sought legal redress from the world’s oil majors.

Here’s the video Shell made in 1991, revealing very clearly what it knew was about to happen to Earth’s climate.

Maarten Wetselaar (pictured), a spokesperson for Shell Oil where he’s worked since 1995, made a presentation in Singapore yesterday.  Here are a few points he made, followed by my comments:

MW: “The world has intervened  ‘very late’ to tackle climate change, but solving the energy challenge would take collaborative action now rather than going back 30 years ago and saying who should have done what. Everybody should have done more—and didn’t.”

CS: No one is saying that placing blame on what the oil companies did or did not do 30 years ago will solve the problem; that’s a separate issue.  What’s at stake in these proceedings is about justice, not climate change mitigation.

MW: “The action that needs to be taken [to transition to a low carbon economy] is by a complex system of government, consumers and companies. To sue a single actor in that system is a waste of society’s money and time.”

CS: There is no question that there were (and are) many bad actors.  Deciding what’s fair here is above my pay grade.  I’ll only say that this doesn’t sound like a compelling defense to me.

MW: “It is certain that if we’d spent all of our capital in the 1990s building solar panels, we would have gone bankrupt long before today, because our customers did not want to buy green energy at high prices at the time.”

CS: True, but totally irrelevant.  Again, no one is suggesting that Shell should have “spent all of its capital in the 1990s building solar panels.”  In fact, there was no requirement for you to have spent a dime on solar.  All you needed to do was tell the truth and let the world save itself from catastrophe.  Personally, I don’t think that’s asking too much, and I believe you’re soon going to find that the world justice system feels the same way.