Dozens of local communities, states, and individuals are suing major oil and gas companies and their trade associations over rising climate costs and for allegedly lying to consumers about climate change risks and solutions. At the same time, some states are enacting or considering laws modeled after the federal Superfund program that would impose retroactive liability on large fossil fuel producers and levy a one-time charge on them to help fund climate adaptation and resiliency measures.
In an effort spearheaded by the tiny Pacific island nation, the ICJ issued a rare unanimous advisory opinion in July, which clarified that all states are required under international law to protect the climate, prevent further harms and have a duty to cooperate. That legal duty to tackle the climate crisis extends far beyond the 2015 Paris agreement, which Donald Trump withdrew the US from on his first day back in office, and any breach of this duty leaves states open to claims of reparations