9 October 2014: The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), an independent policy research organization, has published a study titled ‘Payback Time? What the Internationalization of Climate Litigation Could Mean for Canadian Oil and Gas Companies.’ The report finds that oil and gas companies could be liable for billions of dollars in damages for their contribution to climate change.

The report analyzes: the state of climate damages litigation; the international nature of climate change damages litigation, including jurisdiction, choice of law, recognition and enforcement of orders, prospects for non-US litigation, and national and international statutory defenses; climate compensation legislation, including lessons from the Canadian Tobacco Compensation Act; and liability risk in quantified terms, including that of global liability of Canadian companies and Canadian liability in developing countries.

The study concludes that: cases could be brought in a number of countries in which greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting companies have assets; civil liability is likely and its likelihood will increase if countries seriously affected by climate change adopt legislation removing legal hurdles to liability; and major GHG emitter companies can mitigate the risk of liability by reducing their emissions by, inter alia, moving away from fossil fuels, and supporting the conclusion of international agreements on climate liability, compensation and GHG emissions reductions. [Publication: Payback Time? What the Internationalization of Climate Litigation Could Mean for Canadian Oil and Gas Companies]