Learn about the polluting cars on Europe's roads, Earth's depleting water resources, the oil company urging shareholders to vote against emissions reduction, and more, with our summary of this week's sustainability news.
24/03/23
This past week was filled with interesting sustainability and climate news, we’ve summarised the top stories below.
New research argues that fossil fuel companies should be charged with homicide
The Harvard Environmental Law Review has published an article arguing that fossil fuel companies should be held accountable for the harm caused to the environment and the public which is akin to homicide.
Companies like ExxonMobil, BP, and Chevron have known for decades about the harm caused by their products but have actively worked to conceal this information.
The article suggests that another basis for charging fossil fuel companies with criminal offenses is their ‘delay tactic’ in terms of implementing climate regulations.
The authors argue that pressing homicide charges against fossil fuel companies would have a more significant effect compared to the ongoing legal cases since the penalties would be more severe.
The term "homicide" encompasses a broad range of charges, from manslaughter to murder.
The authors argue that since fossil fuel companies were aware that their products were exacerbating the climate crisis and still proceeded to extract oil, gas, and coal, their actions come close to meeting the definition of murder.
The article suggests that if fossil fuel companies are found guilty of homicide, they should be restructured into public benefit corporations. This would enable a swift reduction in fossil fuel production to minimise further climate damage, while simultaneously increasing investments in clean energy.
Millions of highly polluting cars with 'extreme' emissions are still on European roads
According to a report published by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), roughly 13 million diesel cars that emit high levels of pollutants and were sold between 2009 and 2019 are still in operation on the roads.
The ICCT has identified the Euro 5 versions of the VW Passat and Tiguan, Renault Clio, Ford Focus, and Nissan Qashqai as the top-selling models from 2009 to 2019 in the EU27 and UK that have "extreme" emissions.
According to the ICCT, it is highly likely that cars with "extreme" emissions were equipped with a defeat device, which is software that manipulates or disables the vehicle's emissions technology in specific situations.
ClientEarth, an environmental law organisation, and other groups have submitted legal complaints to the governments of the UK, France, and Germany, accusing them of failing to address a purported "epidemic" of defeat devices, as mandated by law.
Air pollution remains the top environmental health hazard in Europe. Diesel vehicles are a significant contributor to nitrogen dioxide emissions, which are responsible for an estimated 64,000 premature deaths annually.
UN: Overconsumption is depleting the world's water resources
During the recent conference on water security, the UN have warned that governments need to better manage water resources to avoid catastrophic shortages.
Currently, a quarter of the global population depends on unsafe drinking water, while half lack basic sanitation. Moreover, almost three-quarters of recent disasters are related to water.
The three-day UN conference aims to produce a "Water Action Agenda" that will comprise voluntary commitments related to water management and generate "political momentum".
Many action plans were submitted to the UN before the conference, but the World Resources Institute stated that some commitments lacked funding, performance targets, or neglected to address climate change.
Global Commission on the Economics of Water suggested discontinuing $700bn of agricultural and water subsidies and promoting partnerships between private investors and development finance institutions to enhance water systems.
Shell advises shareholders to vote against more rigorous emissions reduction targets
Shell advised its shareholders to vote against a resolution proposed by climate activist group Follow This at its May 23 general meeting, which has called for more rigorous emissions reductions by 2030.
Follow This filed resolutions with six institutional investors managing $1.3 trillion in assets before the annual general meetings of BP, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, and Shell.
The group is calling for BP, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, and Shell to commit to absolute emissions cuts by 2030 and include Scope 3 emissions, which are the emissions from the fuels they sell, rather than relying on intensity-based targets.
Shell has rejected the proposal of setting absolute emissions cut targets.
The company has also described the Follow This resolution as being against shareholder interest, not supporting climate, and violating good governance.
To meet the Paris Agreement goal of keeping warming well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the world must reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 43% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels.
