World Environment Day by OHCHR, Oxford University, Global Witness, agencies   On World Environment Day, 5th of June 2025 the University of Oxford is hosting a global summit on climate change and human rights in partnership with UN Human Rights, the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Alliance, the International Universities Climate Alliance and co-host universities across the world.   The event is being live streamed for 24 hours bringing together leading thinkers and practitioners at the intersection of climate change and human rights for a 24-hour global academic plenary, which will be broadcast live across time zones.   "We are thrilled to have the opportunity to host this pivotal summit with UN Human Rights, bringing together leaders in human rights and climate research from around the world, across a wide range of disciplines with the common goal of finding solutions to one of the most pressing issues of our times, climate change’, said Professor Irene Tracey, Vice-Chancellor, University of Oxford. Co-created and co-delivered by universities across the world, the plenary will follow the sun as we pass the baton between different regions:   http://www.ox.ac.uk/news-and-events/right-here-right-now   June 2025   United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk keynote address at Oxford University Global Climate Summit (Extract from speech):   "We are still in denial about a fundamental fact: our wellbeing and survival as a species are inseparable from the health of our planet and our environment. We are part of nature, and our fate is inextricably bound up with nature. The very oxygen we breathe is constantly recycled between the land, the oceans and the atmosphere. Our food and water depend on plants and animals, birds and insects, rivers and seas.   We have a responsibility to treat our planet with respect; to protect its glaciers and forests; to support the diversity of species on land and in the sea; to keep our rivers and lakes clean; to preserve nature, including ourselves.   The widespread misconception that nature is a hierarchy, with homo sapiens at its apex, is at the root of the planetary crises wreaking havoc across our world. The evidence is everywhere.   Each year, we consume some 1.7 times more resources than our planet can regenerate. The extraction and burning of fossil fuels is trapping humanity in a furnace. Climate impacts are already hitting every country – with huge human and economic costs.   Almost half of humanity live in climate hotspots where people are 15 times more likely to die of climate-related causes. According to Oxfam, the world’s richest 1 percent are responsible for more carbon emissions than the poorest 66 percent.   Meanwhile, our global food systems – which allow massive waste while millions go hungry – are driving an unprecedented loss of biodiversity. One million of the world’s estimated 8 million plant and animal species are threatened with extinction. And by 2050, there could be more plastic in the ocean than fish. Exposure to pesticides, heavy metals, and radioactive waste are severely impacting people’s wellbeing and violating their rights.   Not only have we created a false separation from nature, we are deluded enough to believe we can make nature bend to our will. Attempts to subjugate and exploit our fragile ecosystems have resulted in unpredictable and dangerous consequences. From disrupting water cycles to remaking landscapes, from forever chemicals to the introduction of invasive species, there is a long list of attempted solutions that turned out to be problems.   And yet, there are powerful forces working to portray new, untested and risky approaches to environmental crises as logical and inevitable. They are not. The facts on the climate emergency speak for themselves. For decades, those most responsible for our overheating planet have wilfully ignored and obscured the science, blocked change, and churned out profit with subsidies in one hand, and impunity in the other.   We are already suffering the consequences. And without a radical change of course, future generations will inherit a far hotter, more polluted, more unpredictable and more dangerous world.   These same approaches of supremacy and subjugation are also causing terrible harm within human societies. White supremacy, male supremacy, racial supremacy, religious supremacy – everywhere, we see an attitude that could be summarized as: me first; my community first; my group first; and I don’t care about anyone else. We enslave; we colonize; we exploit for domination and profit.   We see this in the atrocity crimes being committed from Myanmar to Ukraine to Sudan to Gaza, with little accountability. International human rights law and humanitarian law are blatantly disregarded, while corporate interests profit from so-called Forever Wars.   As we see on our screens every day, many of the most powerful in our world are deeply invested in a hierarchy of human lives. We see this in sky-rocketing levels of inequality within and between countries, and in a lack of support for economies that are in, or at high risk of, debt distress – many of them disproportionately affected by the climate crisis.   We see it in record numbers of people living in inadequate housing, or without shelter. We see it in new technologies that are being weaponized to oppress and marginalize. We see it in the continued efforts of fossil fuel companies to undermine solutions to the climate crisis to preserve their profits at the cost of our climate and our rights. We see it in the violations of the rights of Indigenous Peoples, whose lands and territories are being exploited and destroyed without their consent. And we see it in the culture wars against the fundamental principles of inclusion, equality, and non-discrimination.   Nature itself has a long-term strategy. What is ours? Let me set out four fundamental tenets. First, our strategy needs to embrace human rights as the compass for a sustainable future. Our rights call for all people, now and in the future, to live in safety, security and opportunity, on a healthy planet.   When people have enough to eat; when they have access to clean water and education; when their right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is fulfilled; when people can express their opinions without fear; when the media can hold power to account, our societies are more peaceful, stable and resilient.   Our human rights frame compassionate governance. The human rights ecosystem has roots that run in all directions, from peace and sustainable development to social cohesion, equality and justice. And in the 76 years since the Universal Declaration on Human Rights was adopted, it has become clear that our rights are also deeply intertwined. Like a natural ecosystem, human rights find their own equilibrium.   I remain fascinated by the fact that trees communicate with each other. They send distress signals about drought and disease that lead other trees to alter their behaviour. And they share nutrients to keep each other healthy. Science continues to develop a deeper understanding of how natural systems connect and communicate.   We should find inspiration here for our own societies. What if humanity’s unity with nature determined our politics? And what if we recognized that nature has rights, too? The rights of certain species are already widely recognized in many legal systems; cruel treatment is illegal while there are restrictions on animal testing and laws to protect wildlife. What about an ocean? A glacier? A tree?   Authorities around the world increasingly recognise aspects of the rights of nature – even at the international level. The Kunming-Montreal agreement on biodiversity, adopted in 2022, acknowledges that the rights of nature are vital to successful implementation.   The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a series of resolutions on Harmony with Nature, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has issued an advisory opinion stating that environmental components are legal interests in and of themselves.   Following the Treaty of Waitangi in New Zealand, certain rivers have been granted legal identity and designated guardians. And they can be defended in court against environmental damage. Likewise, certain mountains and land of significance to Indigenous Peoples in various countries have been endowed with rights of their own. In South Asia too, some rivers have specific legal recognition.   Ecuador was the first country to recognize the rights of nature in its national constitution. These rights are also recognized at different levels of governance in Bolivia, India, Spain, Uganda, and the United States of America, and beyond.   It is no coincidence that countries at the forefront of recognizing the rights of nature, have strong and active Indigenous Peoples. For many Indigenous Peoples, the rights of nature are a given, part of their worldview, cultural practices, religions, and traditional laws. They understand that protecting nature necessarily reinforces human rights – particularly the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.   Rather than viewing themselves as apart from nature, many Indigenous Peoples view human beings as part of nature, as embodied in the Maori proverb: “I am the river, and the river is me.”   Ecuador’s Constitutional Court ruled in 2021 that issuing mining permits that would harm the biodiversity of the Los Cedros Protected Forest violated the rights of nature. This ruling prevented continued harm against the forest while also protecting the human rights of people living in affected areas.   One of the greatest challenges we face in the world today is developing models of governance that integrate different worldviews and perspectives, including those that recognize the rights of nature.   Academics and legal scholars need to build on current laws, traditions and practices and consider what such models might look like in the future. For example, they could involve constitutional recognition of legal standing for nature and its defenders; stronger protection against environmental harm; and recognition of the crime of ecocide, including under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.   They could mean new and stronger laws, regulations and enforcement mechanisms to ensure corporations are no longer able to treat our planet as an inexhaustible resource to be exploited.   Businesses would be held accountable not only for harming people, but for harming nature, recognizing ultimately that all are part of the same web of life. Indeed, we need a society-wide conversation that reimagines the corporate sector’s goals and its responsibilities to people and planet.   We need bold action, based on human rights, to cool our burning planet. Full implementation of the Paris Agreement is our only hope. Without it, humanity would be headed to over 4 degrees of heating – a death sentence for most.. That figure is now 3 degrees, so we are making progress. But far more is needed.   This is why support is growing for a proposed Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty that would aim to end the expansion of new oil, coal and gas projects, and accelerate the transition to renewable energy..."   http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2025/06/co-hosting-global-summit-turk-calls-new-policies-deliver-climate-action http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2025/06/hc-turk-climate-emergency-clarion-call-new-politics http://fossilfueltreaty.org/ http://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2025/05/right-here-right-now-global-dialogue-climate-change-and-human-rights http://www.ohchr.org/en/climate-change/impact-loss-and-damage-adverse-effects-climate-change-human-rights http://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/a79168-report-special-rapporteur-right-development-surya-deva-climate http://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/latest-news/pace-of-warming-has-doubled-since-1980s http://wmo.int/news/media-centre/global-climate-predictions-show-temperatures-expected-remain-or-near-record-levels-coming-5-years   May 2025   Climate Change and the Escalation of Global Extreme Heat   A new report from scientists at World Weather Attribution, the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, and Climate Central assesses the influence of human-caused climate change on dangerous heat waves over the past 12 months (May 1, 2024, to May 1, 2025).   The period of analysis spans Earth’s hottest year and hottest January ever recorded. The report found that human-caused climate change is boosting dangerous extreme heat for billions of people, and making heat events longer and more likely.   Over the 12-month period, 4 billion people — about 49% of the global population — experienced at least 30 days of extreme heat (hotter than 90% of temperatures observed in their local area over the 1991-2020 period).   In 195 countries/territories, climate change at least doubled the number of extreme heat days, as compared to a world without climate change.   All 67 extreme heat events — identified as significant based on record-setting temperatures or major impacts to people or property — were found to be influenced by climate change.   http://www.worldweatherattribution.org/heat-action-day-report-climate-change-and-the-escalation-of-global-extreme-heat-2/ http://www.climatecentral.org/report/climate-change-and-the-escalation-of-global-extreme-heat-2025 http://wmo.int/publication-series/wmo-global-annual-decadal-climate-update-2025-2029 http://www.climatecentre.org/15432/national-societies-gear-up-for-heat-action-day-2025/ http://news.climate.columbia.edu/2025/02/05/huge-areas-may-face-possibly-fatal-heat-waves-if-warming-continues/ http://www.geog.ox.ac.uk/news/climate-change-doubles-frequency-concurrent-drought-and-heatwave-events-low-income-regions http://careclimatechange.org/hollow-commitments-2025/   May 2025   South Asian Cities faced record-breaking Heatwaves last Year, by Selomi Garnaik and G. A. Rumeshi Perera - climate and energy campaigners for Greenpeace, South Asia.   "From the blistering heat of Delhi’s streets to Colombo’s humid corners, workers in the informal economy are silently enduring the toll of labour on their bodies and livelihoods.   In 2024, South Asian cities like Delhi and Dhaka, faced relentless, record-breaking heatwaves. Meanwhile, in Nepal, the heaviest rains in decades triggered deadly floods and landslides. Sri Lanka, too, faced repeated severe storms, displacing hundreds of thousands, underscoring the vulnerability of the region to climatic chaos.   Then, why are those hit hardest by climate collapse left out of the rooms where its future is decided?   Ms. Swastika, President of the United Federation of Labour Sri Lanka, highlighted on Labour Day how temperature has affected the workers and their daily livelihoods; asking the fundamental question, ‘when do polluters take accountability?’   One of four people living today is from South Asia, yet the region is responsible for barely 8% of the cumulative CO2 emissions, while facing some of the harshest impacts of the climate crisis.   Climate Conversations cannot Ignore Workers:   According to the World Bank, over the past two decades, more than 750 million people, over half of South Asia’s population, have been affected by one or more climate-related disasters.   It’s quickly becoming clear just what this means for workers: India alone is projected to lose 34 million full-time jobs by 2030 due to heat stress. Bangladesh loses US$ 6 billion a year in labour productivity due to the effects of extreme heat.   In Nepal, where over 70% of the workforce is engaged in agriculture, changing rainfall patterns and flash floods have already slashed yields and forced seasonal labourers to migrate. By 2050, climate change could displace 100-200 million people, leading to a rise in climate refugees.   Yet these impacts are reduced to mere ‘economic losses’, rarely acknowledged as human suffering and almost never compensated. This disconnect between climate damage and accountability lies at the heart of global climate injustice.   Workers, particularly in the Global South- must be central to the climate conversations. For them, climate change isn’t abstract: it’s failed crops, deadly heat, toxic air, and unsafe workplaces. These daily realities threaten their health, livelihoods, and dignity.   Despite this, climate planning and response mechanisms are designed by ministries and consultants isolated from the ground realities of workers. Labour ministries, welfare boards or labour unions are rarely included in national climate adaptation frameworks or climate budgeting. Heat Action Plans often overlook worker-centric measures like paid rest breaks, hydration stations, or medical preparedness for outdoor labourers.   This is not just a gap. It is a governance failure.   When national or global climate plans ignore labour protections they deepen existing injustices. Outdoor workers, gig workers, migrant workers, and women in informal employment must be seen not as “vulnerable groups” but as central stakeholders, whose inclusion is essential for a just and durable climate response.   The Unpaid Bill: Who Owes Whom?   For over a century, profits were extracted from the earth and the pain outsourced to its most exploited workers. Now, those frontline workers are leading the call for climate accountability. Polluters Pay Pact, an international movement supported by trade unions, climate justice groups, and frontline communities that calls on the world’s largest fossil fuel and gas corporations to compensate those who are living with the fallout of their actions.   Just five oil and gas companies made over $100 billion in profits in 2024 alone, while informal workers are breathing toxic air, suffering heat extremes and losing workdays- without compensation or insurance. This isn’t aid, its owed justice.   The Polluters Pay Pact must result in binding commitments: climate-linked funding, worker led adaptation, and a global recognition of labour as central to climate action.   Most importantly, the pact is not waiting for international summits to act. Across the region, grassroots campaigns are gaining momentum- taking legal action, seeking compensation for heat-related losses, and pushing for fossil fuel taxes to fund worker protections.   This marks the beginning of a new phase in climate accountability: one that is worker-led, justice-driven, and grounded in the principle that those who suffer should not be left to shoulder the costs alone.   The Polluters Pay Pact is beyond compensation. It’s about correcting a system that treats labour as disposable and emissions as externalities. To make climate justice real and tangible, governments must move beyond symbolic acknowledgments of “climate vulnerability’’ to institutional reforms that protect the people that hold up our economies.   It is inspiring to see countries like Sri Lanka take the fight to the International Court of Justice, highlighting how vulnerable nations are bearing the brunt of a crisis they did little to cause. By co-sponsoring the resolution and emphasizing intergenerational equity and human rights, Sri Lanka is underscoring that climate inaction by high-emitting states is a violation of basic rights like access to water and food. There is growing momentum from South Asian countries demanding climate justice.   Here is what ‘labour justice is climate justice’ would mean:   Classify climate risks as workplace hazards– National labour laws across South Asia must classify climate-induced hazards as occupational risks. This would entitle workers to compensation, paid rest, and workplace safety standards during extreme weather events.   Investment in localised worker centered infrastructure– Governments must prioritise tangible, community-level infrastructure like citizen-led early warning systems, much of which should be financed by new taxes on the oil and gas industry. Shade, hydration points and cooling infrastructure at high-risk sites, must become standard in heat-prone districts. The health care system needs to be strengthened to treat heat-related illness.   Embed Worker Voices in Climate Governance– Worker Unions of street vendors, construction workers, gig workers, waste pickers and migrant workers must be formally represented in local and national climate adaptation planning. Policies made without them are policies bound to fail.   We must move from damage to repair, from exploitation to protection. Climate action will only succeed by including those who face its worst impacts. Polluters must pay- investing in worker resilience across South Asia would save life and uphold climate justice".   http://www.ipsnews.net/2025/06/south-asian-cities-faced-relentless-record-breaking-heatwaves-last-year/ http://sdinet.org/2025/05/cba19/ http://tinyurl.com/3dy3p39f   May 2025   2024 was the hottest year ever recorded. In the same year, both ExxonMobil and Chevron hit new highs in oil production, exacerbating the crisis they publicly claim to be addressing.   Global Witness analysis on the occasion of the US majors' annual general meeting today:   ExxonMobil produced 4.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2024 – the highest output from the major in over a decade. Chevron posted 3.3 million bpd equivalent in 2024, the highest in company history   Exxon plans to double Permian Basin output to 2.3 million bpd by 2030. Last year Chevron boosted production in the Permian Basin to 921,000 bpd – up 18% from 2023 – with plans to hit 1 million bpd in 2025   2024 marked the 42nd consecutive year that Exxon has grown shareholder returns; 2024 was the 37th year in a row that Chevron grew its dividend payout   Alexander Kirk, fossil fuels campaigner at Global Witness, said:   “Last year saw record temperatures supercharge devastating extreme weather across the world, ruining countless lives and livelihoods.   “ExxonMobil and Chevron, two of the largest fossil fuel companies, also marked 2024 with record or near-record oil production, nearly a decade after the Paris Agreement. This is not a coincidence.   “This is the result of unchecked greed in the fossil fuel industry, clamouring for shareholder value while their products make the only world we have increasingly inhospitable.   “It is beyond time that governments force oil and gas majors to cough up for the damage they've caused, by implementing robust and meaningful taxes on majors' profits and ruinous environmental impacts. We need to see these polluters pay."   http://globalwitness.org/en/press-releases/exxonmobil-chevron-post-monster-oil-production-in-hottest-year-in-history/ http://tinyurl.com/mtnrb4s8 http://www.clientearth.org/latest/news/fossil-fuels-and-climate-change-the-facts/ http://www.clientearth.org/latest/news/clientearth-taking-action-against-blackrock-for-greenwashing/ http://insideclimatenews.org/news/17062025/banks-continue-to-back-fossil-fuel-industry/ http://www.bankingonclimatechaos.org/banking-on-climate-chaos-2025-report/ http://carbonmajors.org/ http://financemap.org/banking http://lobbymap.org/LobbyMapScores http://academic.oup.com/jel/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jel/eqaf008/8129420   http://climate-laws.org/ http://climatecasechart.com/non-us-climate-change-litigation/ http://news.climate.columbia.edu/2025/01/22/sabin-centers-online-tracking-tools-monitor-government-actions-on-climate-change/ http://climatetrace.org/   http://www.stopecocide.earth/bn-2025/tantamount-to-ecocide-council-of-europe-criminalises-severe-environmental-harm http://www.stopecocide.earth/ http://climatejustice.org.au/blog/f/pacific-island-nations-file-ecocide-request-with-icc http://www.clientearth.org/latest/news/what-s-the-relationship-between-climate-change-and-the-ocean/ http://one-ocean-science-2025.org/oos2025-recommendations-en.pdf http://for-the-ocean.org/news/ocean-protection-gap-report/   May 2025   Shock as Australian Government extends life of ​​Australia’s largest gas facility and locks in more than 4 billion tonnes of climate pollution. The equivalent to 10 years of Australia’s annual emissions.   "Australia has just approved a fossil fuel mega-project that will run 20 years after the world is meant to reach net zero emissions by 2050. The average Australian is saying, 'Hang on, this is about climate change and 2070, What in the hell are we doing?", said Greg Bourne from the Australian Climate Council.   "They’ve just approved one of the most polluting fossil fuel projects in a generation, fueling climate chaos for decades to come. This single project will unleash more than four billion tonnes of climate pollution. The global market is already awash with gas. It is rubbish to say that Australia needs this gas when the lion’s share is marked for export. It’s bad for the climate, bad for Australia’s economy, and completely out of step with where the world is heading.”   Julia Dehm, an associate professor in the law school at La Trobe University and climate law expert said: "Our fossil fuel export footprint is significantly larger than our domestic emissions. And this really needs to be recognised as part of our sphere of responsibility. Approving more coal and gas projects, really undercuts Australia's climate credentials."   Children born in Australia today face much more extreme heat, floods and other disasters during their lifetimes than previous generations.   * The International Energy Agency has clearly stated there should be no new fossil fuel developments if the world is to limit warming to 1.5°C – the Paris Agreement’s temperature goal.   http://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/labor-approves-woodside-extension/ http://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/extending-north-west-shelf-project-rotten-climate/ http://australiainstitute.org.au/report/emissions-from-wa-gas-exports/ http://climateanalytics.org/comment/dug-up-in-australia-burned-around-the-world-exporting-fossil-fuels-undermines-climate-targets   http://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/explainers/what-is-meant-by-intergenerational-climate-justice/ http://www.rightsoffuturegenerations.org/the-principles http://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/new-york/events/hr75-future-generations/Maastricht-Principles-on-The-Human-Rights-of-Future-Generations.pdf http://www.savethechildren.net/news/children-tell-inter-american-court-human-rights-how-climate-change-affecting-them-historic   http://wmo.int/media/news/global-temperature-record-streak-continues-climate-change-makes-heatwaves-more-extreme http://www.unicef.org/blog/urgent-need-child-centred-loss-and-damage-fund http://www.unicef.org/innocenti/reports/loss-and-damage-finance-children http://www.endchildhoodpoverty.org/publications-feed/climatechange http://reliefweb.int/report/world/climate-changed-child-childrens-climate-risk-index-supplement-enar   http://www.savethechildren.net/news/more-half-pakistan-s-school-age-children-will-be-out-school-due-extreme-heat http://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/pdf/born-into-the-climate-crisis.pdf/ http://www.unicef.org/eap/press-releases/sweltering-heat-across-east-asia-and-pacific-puts-childrens-lives-risk-unicef http://www.unicef.org/reports/climate-changed-child http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/climate-change-urgent-threat-pregnant-women-and-children http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/08/urgent-action-states-needed-tackle-climate-change-says-un-committee-guidance http://childrightsenvironment.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Press-Release_GC26.pdf   May 2025   As EU surtax on fossil fuel profits ends, European Commission report reveals it generated €28 billion of additional public revenue. (European Network on Debt and Development)   An EU surtax on fossil fuel industries’ profits, which was limited to the fiscal years 2022 and 2023, generated an estimated €28 billion of additional tax revenues for EU Member States.   This headline figure has been published by the European Commission in its assessment of the so-called ‘solidary contribution’, a profit top-up levy on energy undertakings in the oil, gas, coal, and refinery sector with businesses in the EU.   In response to the European Commission’s report, Markus Trilling, Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer at the European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad) said:   “The Commission’s report shows that returning a larger portion of polluting profits to public hands is fair and feasible: it generated a sizeable amount of much-needed public revenue.   “Today, we’re all paying the price of polluting industries’ profits as the impacts of climate change grow ever harsher, and the hardest consequences are felt in developing countries that have contributed the least to the problem. There is a desperate lack of climate finance to fund the green transition and climate adaptation globally, as well as for covering the cost of loss and damage.   “Fossil fuel industries are reaping billions of euros of profits from activities that emit extremely high amounts of greenhouse gasses. These industrial polluters must, at the very least, contribute their share of taxes to finance the fight against the climate crises. We need a permanent polluter pays tax on all fossil fuel profits – both in the EU and globally.   “We also must not forget that we urgently need to phase out fossil fuels – that is clear. But while these industries continue their dirty business surtaxes on their profits can create disincentives for fossil fuel companies to continue with business as usual and bring in substantial additional tax revenues.”   The EU solidarity contribution was introduced in October 2022, in reaction to the public outcry about emerging energy and fossil fuel companies’ super-profits, while large parts of society were suffering from a ‘cost of living crisis’.   The tax was intended to skim-off the windfall profits, i.e. ‘profits that do not correspond to any regular profit’ and that hadn’t occurred without the Russian invasion of Ukraine.   The European Commission recommended a minimum 33 per cent tax on fossil fuel companies’ ‘surplus profits’, which were defined as profits above 120 per cent of the past five years average.   Markus Trilling said: “The EU’s so-called solidarity contribution was a timid start, since it was only applied as a temporary emergency measure on extraordinarily high profits. But it shows it can be done. The climate crisis is still raging, and it beggars belief that the EU has no plan to continue imposing top-up taxes on the profits of fossil fuel industries, which continue to be very high. This measure should be scaled up, and introduced as a permanent measure – both in the EU and globally.   The upcoming negotiation of a new UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation also provides a unique opportunity to introduce polluter pays taxes on the profits of highly polluting industries all around the world.” http://tinyurl.com/4knuumjp   * The Climate Damages Tax proposal   The Climate Damages Tax (CDT) addresses the injustice of climate devastation impacting populations around the world who did not cause the climate change but are left to pay for it without the means to do so. It looks to the fossil fuel industry – the burning of whose products are the root cause of the problem – who are currently making grotesque levels of profits in the hundreds of billions of dollars every year, to be held accountable for their actions. Most specifically, by being taxed considerably more to help pay for the skyrocketing bill for damages they have to date avoided.   The CDT is a fossil fuel extraction charge, levied on each tonne of coal, barrel of oil or cubic litre of gas produced. It would generate billions in extra income, most especially from fossil-fuel producing states. We propose that this substantial additional revenue is allocated in two ways.   Firstly, it can help, particularly OECD countries contribute finance to the Loss and Damage Fund (LDF), without unfairly costing their taxpayers. Secondly, it will generate a significant domestic dividend that can be channelled to climate action nationally, helping to pay for the necessary support for workers and communities to transition away from fossil fuels, towards green energy and transport: http://tinyurl.com/mtnrb4s8   http://views-voices.oxfam.org.uk/2025/06/who-should-pay-for-climate-damage-polluters-tax http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press-release/75582/global-survey-finds-8-out-of-10-people-support-taxing-oil-and-gas-corporations-to-pay-for-climate-damages/   * Global Poll: 89% of world population call for greater climate action from their Governments. (Nature Climate Change)   Mitigating climate change necessitates global cooperation, yet global data on individuals’ willingness to act remain scarce. In this study, we conducted a representative survey across 125 countries, interviewing nearly 130,000 individuals. Our findings reveal widespread support for climate action.   Notably, 69% of the global population expresses a willingness to contribute 1% of their personal income, 86% endorse pro-climate social norms and 89% demand intensified political action. Countries facing heightened vulnerability to climate change show a particularly high willingness to contribute.   Despite these encouraging statistics, we document that the world is in a state of pluralistic ignorance, wherein individuals around the globe systematically underestimate the willingness of their fellow citizens to act. Raising awareness about the broad global support for climate action becomes critically important in promoting a unified response to climate change..   http://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-024-01925-3 http://89percent.org/ http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/22/activate-climate-silent-majority-support-supercharge-action http://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/latest-news/encouraging-findings-on-public-acceptance-of-global-climate-policy http://peoplesclimate.vote/   May 2025   Chinese banks rise to claim top spot among largest lenders to “forest-risk” businesses. (Global Witness)   Chinese banks became the largest creditors of “forest-risk” companies globally between 2018-2024 – excluding financial institutions based in Brazil and Indonesia – according to a new analysis by Global Witness, based on data released by the Forests & Finance coalition.   This marks a shift from Global Witness’s previous reporting on Chinese bank finance in 2021, which used Forests & Finance data from 2013-2020. During this period, Chinese banks were the fifth largest creditors globally of major companies producing and trading commodities at high risk of driving deforestation.   The Forests & Finance database, compiled by Dutch research firm Profundo, tracks financial flows to over 300 “forest-risk” companies involved in agricultural supply chains such as beef, palm oil and soy production – industries that are major drivers of tropical deforestation.   The financial sectors of Brazil, Indonesia and Malaysia provide a disproportionate amount of “forest-risk” financing to commodity producers in their own countries and are excluded from this analysis, which focuses on international financial flows. When including these countries, China ranked third globally overall in 2023, the final year for which full data is available.   At COP26, countries like the US, France, the Netherlands and the UK pledged to end deforestation by 2030. However, private financial institutions based in those financial centres also remain some of the biggest supporters of “forest-risk” companies.   According to the data, between 2018-2024, Chinese banks provided a total of $23 billion in credit to “forest-risk” companies. This figure for the seven-year period is higher than the figure provided in the seven-year period between 2014-2020 ($18 billion), indicating that the financial sector has failed to adjust lending practices to mitigate the damage some of these companies are wreaking upon global forests.   There are a handful of key Chinese banks among the top creditors providing “forest-risk” financing – CITIC, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Bank of China were the top three creditors between 2018-2024, according to the data.   The rising influence of Chinese banks in “forest-risk” sectors is of particular concern given that Chinese banks persistently have some of the weakest deforestation policies in place compared with banks from other countries.   The lack of formal policy raises questions about whether and how the world’s top creditors to "forest-risk" agribusinesses are carrying out due diligence to ensure their investments do not drive deforestation.   One way of comparing the strength of banks’ policies on deforestation is via the Forest 500, prepared by Global Canopy, which ranks financial institutions based on an evaluation of their publicly available commitments to tackle deforestation and related human rights abuses, assessing factors such as if all commodities are included, as well as the transparency of their reporting against targets.   Four out of six major Chinese lenders (including CITIC, Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China) assessed in Forest 500’s database have policy scores of zero.   All the banks from China in this assessment also score zero points for their approach to human rights abuses associated with deforestation.   According to Forest 500, a strong deforestation policy for a bank includes clear, time-bound commitments to eliminate deforestation and associated human rights abuses from its financing, applies to all high-risk commodities across all financial services, and includes robust implementation measures such as due diligence, monitoring and transparent reporting.   Global Witness approached Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and CITIC with an opportunity to comment on the report’s findings – including their financing activities and apparent lack of deforestation policies. None of the three banks responded to this request.   Chinese banks and their regulators must take their deforestation-risk portfolio seriously – the increasing financial support to the “forest-risk” companies shown by our analysis suggests a clear departure from China’s commitment and national policies.   The increasing flow of this funding, coupled with no national regulations to prevent it falling into the hands of deforesting companies, appears to contradict the commitments China has made on the international stage – such as those made under the Glasgow Leaders' Declaration, signed by China and more than 140 nations at COP26, that commits to realigning financial flows with forest protection.   Crucially, supporting companies with a track-record of causing environmental and social harm is also at odds with China’s national policies, especially those designed to guide and leverage finance to support the green and low-carbon transition.   For example, in 2022, a major overarching policy called Green Finance Guidelines set out detailed expectations for banks and insurance companies to identify, monitor, prevent and control their environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks.   The guidelines made it clear that banks should “strictly restrict” granting credit to clients that face significant environmental and social violations and risks (article 20) and strengthen ESG risk management in their credit and investment granting for overseas Belt and Road projects (article 25).   In recent years, China has made efforts to decarbonise its economy and balance growth within planetary boundaries. In fact, the world is increasingly looking to China for leadership in climate and nature actions as the country explores new opportunities in the clean energy sectors.   Despite being one of the world’s largest markets for “forest-risk” commodities such as soy, beef and palm oil, China currently lacks a national policy prohibiting the import of commodities linked to deforestation.   Global Witness’ analysis suggests that Chinese banks and their regulators can do much more to reverse the environmental and social harm caused by financing deforestation-linked companies, which undermines China’s international climate and nature goals.   http://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/forests/chinese-banks-rise-to-claim-top-spot-among-largest-lenders-to-forest-risk-businesses/ http://globalwitness.org/en/press-releases/eu-anti-deforestation-law-appears-to-exclude-major-deforestation-hotspots-gw-reaction/ http://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/forests/ http://insideclimatenews.org/news/26052025/china-belt-and-road-initiative-wind-solar-investments/ http://insideclimatenews.org/news/30032025/china-belt-and-road-argentina-environmental-cost/ http://dialogue.earth/en/energy/will-chinas-new-renewable-energy-pricing-speed-up-coals-exit/ http://dialogue.earth/en/climate/opinion-preserving-glaciers-is-key-to-humanitys-survival/   Apr. 2025 (Copernicus Climate Change Service, agencies)   The average global temperature last month was 1.6C (2.88F) higher than in pre-industrial times, the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said on Tuesday.   March 2025 was the 20th month in a 21-month period for which the global-average surface air temperature was more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. 14 of these 20 months, from September 2023 to April 2024, and from October 2024 to March 2025, were substantially above 1.5°C, ranging from 1.58°C to 1.78°C.   Scientists have warned that every fraction of a degree of global warming increases the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events such as heatwaves, heavy rainfall and droughts.   Samantha Burgess, strategic lead at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, which runs the C3S service, noted that Europe experienced extremes in both heavy rain and drought in March.   Europe last month recorded “many areas experiencing their driest March on record and others their wettest March on record for at least the past 47 years”, Burgess said.   Scientists said climate change also intensified an extreme heatwave across Central Asia and fuelled conditions for extreme rainfall in countries like Argentina.   Arctic sea ice also fell to its lowest monthly extent last month for any March in the 47-year record of satellite data, C3S said. The previous three months also set record lows.   The main driver of climate change is greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels, according to climate scientists. But even as the costs of disasters due to climate change spiral, the political will to invest in curbing emissions has waned in some countries.   United States President Donald Trump has called climate change a “hoax”, despite the overwhelming global scientific consensus that it is human-caused and will have severe and ongoing consequences if not urgently addressed.   In January, Trump signed an executive order to have the US withdraw from the landmark Paris climate agreement, dealing a blow to worldwide efforts to combat global warming. In 2015, nearly 200 nations agreed in Paris that limiting warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels offered the best chance of preventing the most catastrophic repercussions of climate change.   Friederike Otto of the Grantham Institute – Climate Change and the Environment at Imperial College London told the AFP news agency that the world is “firmly in the grip of human-caused climate change”. “That we’re still at 1.6C above pre-industrial is indeed remarkable,” she said.   http://climate.copernicus.eu/surface-air-temperature-maps http://climate.copernicus.eu/second-warmest-march-globally-large-wet-and-dry-anomalies-europe http://wmo.int/news/media-centre/wmo-report-documents-spiralling-weather-and-climate-impacts   Apr. 2025   UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres message for International Earth Day:   Mother Earth is running a fever. Last year was the hottest ever recorded: The final blow in a decade of record heat.   We know what’s causing this sickness: the greenhouse gas emissions humanity is pumping into the atmosphere – overwhelmingly from burning fossil fuels. We know the symptoms: devastating wildfires, floods and heat. Lives lost and livelihoods shattered.   And we know the cure: rapidly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and turbocharging adaptation, to protect ourselves – and nature – from climate disasters.   Getting on the road to recovery is a win-win. Renewable power is cheaper, healthier, and more secure than fossil fuel alternatives. And action on adaptation is critical to creating robust economies and safer communities, now and in the future.   This year is critical. All countries must create new national climate action plans that align with limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius – essential to avoid the worst of climate catastrophe.   This is a vital chance to seize the benefits of clean power. I urge all countries to take it, with the G20 leading the way. We also need action to tackle pollution, slam the brakes on biodiversity loss, and deliver the finance countries need to protect our planet.   Together, let’s get to work and make 2025 the year we restore good health to Mother Earth.   http://www.un.org/en/climatechange/ http://wmo.int/publication-series/state-of-global-climate-2024 http://climate.copernicus.eu/copernicus-january-2025-was-warmest-record-globally-despite-emerging-la-nina http://wmo.int/news/media-centre/wmo-confirms-2024-warmest-year-record-about-155degc-above-pre-industrial-level http://wmo.int/media/news/climate-change-impacts-grip-globe-2024 http://wmo.int/media/news/record-carbon-emissions-highlight-urgency-of-global-greenhouse-gas-watch http://www.ipcc.ch/reports/ http://www.worldweatherattribution.org/when-risks-become-reality-extreme-weather-in-2024 http://climatenetwork.org/2025/06/26/breakthrough-for-justice-at-bonn-climate-talks/ http://climatenetwork.org/2025/06/25/tax-justice-the-missing-element-on-the-road-to-belem/ http://climatenetwork.org/2025/02/11/over-90-of-countries-fail-to-submit-new-ndcs-by-deadline http://www.iied.org/country-climate-targets-another-missed-deadline-make-change-happen-podcast-episode-31   Apr. 2025   Clean energy can be Africa’s greatest success story, which is why its leaders must not fall for the pro-coal lobbying of the Trump administration, says Mohamed Adow, Founder and Director of Power Shift Africa   President Donald Trump’s administration has recently taken to urging African leaders to burn more planet-heating fossil fuels, and in particular coal, the dirtiest of all of them. Simultaneously, it scrapped USAID funding, which had been helping millions of the poorest people in Africa survive amid expanding climate breakdown.   Those thinking of aligning with Trump’s agenda would do well to remember that the droughts, floods, and storms which have destroyed the lives and livelihoods of Africans across the continent have been supercharged by US energy policy. The US alone has produced about a quarter of all historic carbon dioxide emissions since the Industrial Revolution, which are now responsible for accelerated global warming.   Not only would a coal-based development pathway for Africa heap more misery onto its citizens who are already living on the front lines of the climate crisis, but it would also be economically suicidal.   The economic impact of the climate emergency is already taking a terrible toll on Africa, and a 2022 report by the charity Christian Aid showed that under the current climate trajectory, African countries could suffer a reduction in gross domestic product growth of 64 percent by 2100.   There is also no need for Africa to shackle itself to the outdated fossil fuel infrastructure of coal when the continent is blessed with a spectacular potential for developing clean renewable energy.   The US fossil fuel advocates would be happy to see Africa trail along in the footsteps of the Global North, rather than see the continent leapfrogging the dirty energy era in the same way it leapfrogged landline telephone technology and adopted mobile phones en masse. But Africans should know better.   No other continent has more untapped wind and solar power than Africa, and this remains the key to its long-term prosperity. From the sun-drenched deserts of North Africa to the wind-swept plains of East Africa, the continent has the natural resources to become a global leader in clean energy.   Countries such as Morocco, Kenya and South Africa are already making significant strides in renewable energy development, with projects that harness solar, wind, geothermal, and hydropower.   Investing in renewable energy offers numerous benefits. It can improve energy access for millions of people, create jobs, and boost economic growth. Renewable energy projects are often more scalable and adaptable to local needs, making them ideal for rural electrification and community-based initiatives.   By contrast, coal has wrought a terrible cost to Africans. It is often touted as a cheap and reliable energy source, but this ignores the hidden costs of environmental degradation, health impacts, and the overall economic harm of climate breakdown. Moreover, the global shift towards clean energy means that investments in coal are increasingly risky and likely to become stranded assets.   African countries must resist the lobbying efforts of Trump’s fossil fuel backers and instead focus on building a sustainable energy future. This requires a multifaceted approach, including investment in renewable energy infrastructure, strengthening governance and policy frameworks, and fostering international cooperation.   Investing in clean energy infrastructure is crucial. This includes not only large-scale projects like solar parks and wind farms but also decentralised systems that can bring electricity to off-grid communities. Many countries across Africa are already leading the way with community-focused solar systems and microgrids, and these initiatives demonstrate how renewable energy can be both ambitious and pragmatic, addressing energy access challenges while reducing reliance on imported fuels.   Strengthening governance and policy frameworks is equally important. African governments must prioritise climate adaptation and resilience in their urban planning and development processes.   This involves integrating climate considerations into all new projects and ensuring that resources are allocated where they are most needed. Effective governance structures can enable the implementation of climate adaptation strategies and ensure that investments in renewable energy are sustainable and equitable.   International cooperation and support are also vital. The global clean energy transition holds new promise for Africa’s economic and social development. Countries representing more than 70 percent of global CO2 emissions have committed to reaching net zero emissions by mid-century, including several African nations. These commitments can help attract climate finance and technology, enabling African countries to achieve their energy-related development goals on time and in full.   Africa’s path to sustainable economic development lies in embracing renewable, clean energy. The continent has the natural resources and innovative spirit to become a global leader in renewables, improving energy access, creating jobs, and reversing the climate crisis. By resisting the fossil fuel industry’s attempts to perpetuate coal use, African countries can build a resilient and prosperous future for their people.   Clean energy can be Africa’s greatest success story. For that to happen, African leaders must not take advice from a US president who admits he only cares about “America First”.   http://www.powershiftafrica.org/ http://africaclimateplatform.com/ http://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/africa-climate-justice-activists-to-submit-petition-to-achpr-seeking-courts-opinion-on-human-rights-obligations-of-african-states-in-the-context-of-climate-change/ http://www.hrw.org/news/2025/05/05/top-african-rights-court-consider-states-climate-obligations http://globalvoices.org/2025/06/12/how-chinese-media-ignores-the-environmental-toll-of-the-belt-and-road-initiative-in-africa/ http://sdg.iisd.org/commentary/guest-articles/african-unions-voice-at-the-icj-seeking-climate-justice/ http://www.hhrjournal.org/2025/04/20/a-breath-of-fresh-air-indian-supreme-court-declares-protection-from-climate-change-a-fundamental-right/ http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/05/council-europe-must-recognise-right-healthy-environment-un-experts-urge http://rightsindevelopment.org/news/planet-burning-people-are-demanding-justice   http://www.thelancet.com/countdown-health-climate http://www.who.int/news/item/17-03-2025-nearly-50-million-people-sign-up-call-for-clean-air-action-for-better-health http://www.who.int/health-topics/climate-change http://www.socialprotectionfloorscoalition.org/2024/05/policy-brief-social-protection-for-climate-justice-why-and-how/ http://www.ipbes.net/nexus/media-release   http://globalcommonsalliance.org/news/new-research-reveals-path-to-prosperity-for-planet-and-people-if-earths-critical-resources-are-better-shared/ http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(24)00042-1/fulltext http://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/latest-news/planetary-commons-fostering-global-cooperation-to-safeguard-critical-earth-system-functions http://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2301531121 http://sdgs.un.org/publications/synergy-solutions-climate-and-sdg-action-bridging-ambition-gap-future-we-want-56106 http://report-2023.global-tipping-points.org/section1/1-earth-system-tipping-points/ http://doughnuteconomics.org/about-doughnut-economics http://doughnuteconomics.org/stories   http://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/ahrc5646-scene-setting-report-report-special-rapporteur-promotion-and http://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/ahrc5347-adverse-impact-climate-change-full-realization-right-food http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/09/water-must-be-managed-common-good-and-made-accessible-all-un-expert http://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-environment http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/11/plastic-pollution-global-threat-human-rights-say-un-experts http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2021/10/plastic-pandemic-time-running-out-prevent-human-rights-tragedy-un-expert http://www.ohchr.org/en/topic/climate-change-and-environment   * OHCHR: Frequently asked Questions on Human Rights and Climate Change 2021 (90pp): http://tinyurl.com/2v298vmx Visit the related web page
	‘Massive disinformation campaign’ is slowing global transition to green energy by Elisa Morgera, Selwin Hart Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Climate Action and Just Transition   June 2025   States must urgently phase out fossil fuels, in accordance with their international human rights obligations. (OHCHR)   A leading UN expert is calling for criminal penalties against those peddling disinformation about the climate crisis and a total ban on fossil fuel industry lobbying and advertising, as part of a radical shake-up to safeguard human rights and curtail planetary catastrophe.   Elisa Morgera, the UN special rapporteur on human rights and climate change presented her report to the UN general assembly, says wealthy fossil fuel nations are legally obliged under international law to fully phase out oil, gas and coal by 2030 – and compensate communities for harms caused.   Fracking, oil sands and gas flaring should be banned, as should fossil fuel exploration, subsidies, investments and false tech solutions that will lock in future generations to polluting and increasingly costly oil, gas and coal.   “Despite overwhelming evidence of the interlinked, intergenerational, severe and widespread human rights impacts of the fossil fuel life cycle … these countries have and are still accruing enormous profits from fossil fuels, and are still not taking decisive action,” said Morgera, professor of global environmental law at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow (UK).   “These countries are responsible for not having prevented the widespread human rights harm arising from climate change and other planetary crises we are facing – biodiversity loss, plastic pollution and economic inequalities – caused by fossil fuels extraction, use and waste.”   Island nations, Indigenous and other vulnerable communities – who have benefited least from fossil fuels – now face the worst and compounding harms caused by the climate crisis and other environmental harms linked to their extraction, transport and use for energy, fuel, plastics and synthetic fertilizers.   The report points to a mountain of evidence on the severe, far-reaching and cumulative damage caused by the fossil fuel industry – oil, gas, coal, fertilizers and plastics – on almost every human right including the rights to life, self-determination, health, food, water, housing, education, information and livelihoods.   Morgera makes the case for the “defossilization” of our entire economies – in other words the eradication of fossil fuels from all sectors including politics, finance, food, media, tech and knowledge. The transition to clean energy is not enough to tackle the widespread and mounting harms caused by the fossil fuels, she argues.   In order to comply with existing international human rights law, states are obliged to inform their citizens about the widespread harms caused by fossil fuels and that phasing out oil, gas and coal is the most effective way to fight the climate crisis.   People also have the right to know how the industry – and its allies – has for 60 years systematically obstructed access to this knowledge and meaningful climate action by peddling disinformation and misinformation, attacks on climate scientists and activists, and by capturing democratic decision-making spaces including the annual UN climate negotiations.   “The fossil fuel playbook has undermined the protection of all human rights that are negatively impacted by climate change for over six decades,” said Morgera in the imperative of defossilizing our economies report.   States must ban fossil fuel ads and lobbying, criminalize greenwashing (misinformation and misrepresentation) by the fossil fuel industry, media and advertising firms, and enforce harsh penalties for attacks on climate advocates who are facing a rise in malicious lawsuits, online harassment and physical violence.   Communities across the world are facing growing threats from sea level rise, desertification, drought, melting glaciers, extreme heat, floods, and other climate-related impacts. This is on top of the deadly air pollution, water scarcity, biodiversity loss, and forced displacement of Indigenous and rural peoples associated with every stage of the fossil fuel lifecycle.   Meanwhile, fossil fuel and petrochemical companies have benefited from huge profits, taxpayer subsidies, tax avoidance schemes and undue protection under international investment law – without ever reducing energy poverty and economic inequalities. In 2023, oil and gas companies globally earned $2.4tn, while coal companies pocketed $2.5tn, according to the report.   Removing fossil fuel subsidies, estimated to have topped $1.4tn for OECD members and 48 other countries in 2023, would alone reduce emissions by up to 10% by 2030.   Redirecting these subsidies would help wealthy fossil fuel-producing states fulfill their legal obligations to aid developing countries to phase out fossil fuels – and provide financial and other remedies for the widespread human rights violations and environmental damage they have caused – and continue to cause.   The compensation could also be funded by enforcing penalties for damages caused by fossil fuel companies, and cracking down on tax evasion and avoidance by the industry, as well as introducing wealth and windfall taxes.   States could – and should – require the industry to finance climate adaptation, mitigation and loss and damage through climate superfunds or other mechanisms that are directly accessible to affected communities.   Land unjustly appropriated for fossil fuel operations should be cleaned up, remediated and returned to Indigenous communities, people of African descent and peasants, if they want it back, or they should be fairly compensated, Morgera argues.   The report lays out the human rights case for decisive and transformative political action to limit the pain and suffering from the climate crisis. The recommendations offer a glimpse at a world in which the basic rights of all people are prioritized above the profits and benefits enjoyed by a few.   “Paradoxically what may seem radical or unrealistic – a transition to a renewable energy-based economy – is now cheaper and safer for our economics and a healthier option for our societies,” Morgera told reporters.   “The transition can also lead to significant savings of taxpayers’ money that is currently going into responding to climate change impacts, saving health costs, and also recouping lost tax revenue from fossil fuel companies. This could be the single most impactful health contribution we could ever make. The transition seems radical and unrealistic because fossil fuel companies have been so good at making it seem so.”   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/06/de-fossilising-economies-key-course-correction-climate-change-and-human http://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/g25/070/22/pdf/g2507022.pdf http://www.ohchr.org/en/specialprocedures/sr-climate-change http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jun/30/un-expert-urges-criminalizing-fossil-fuel-disinformation-banning-lobbying http://coveringclimatenow.org/from-us-story/downright-evil-us-sen-sheldon-whitehouse-blasts-fossil-fuel-companies-in-covering-climate-now-newsmaker-interview/ http://insideclimatenews.org/news/03072025/inter-american-court-of-human-rights-says-nations-must-act-on-climate-crisis/ http://www.corteidh.or.cr/tablas/OC-32-2025/index-eng.html http://www.carbonbrief.org/tipping-points-window-to-avoid-irreversible-climate-impacts-is-rapidly-closing/   May 2025   New Evidence Strengthens the Case for Climate Accountability, writes L. Delta Merner - Lead Scientist, Science Hub for Climate Litigation. Union Of Concerned Scientists   For decades, major fossil fuel companies have worked hard to bury the truth: their own research confirmed the dangers their products posed to the planet and people. Yet rather than warn the public or transition away from harm, they chose instead to fund campaigns that misled the public, sowed doubt, and delayed action.   Today, with the release of Decades of Deceit, new evidence emerges that deepens the case against them – and it could not come at a more pivotal moment. In an effort to block climate litigation and superfund-style accountability laws, President Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed lawsuits against four states. These actions are arguably a direct attempt to suppress state-led efforts to hold fossil fuel companies responsible for decades of deception.   Decades of Deceit provides the kind of robust, well-documented evidence that these states—and others—can use to demonstrate both the foreseeability of harm and the deliberate misconduct of fossil fuel giants. As the federal government attempts to shield polluters from legal scrutiny, this report serves as a critical counterpoint: a record of what the industry knew, when they knew it, and how they misled the public at every step.   The Union of Concerned Scientists’ latest report, which I was proud to co-author, draws on primary sources and recent investigative findings. It shows, with stark clarity, that the fossil fuel industry’s attempts to avoid accountability are not just a story of the past—they are an ongoing threat today. And these findings raise the stakes for ongoing and future climate litigation.   Decades of Deceit brings forward both historical and recent revelations:   Early choices: As far back as 1959, leading scientists warned fossil fuel executives about the risks of rising carbon dioxide levels. By the mid-1980s, internal company documents acknowledged the need for sharp fossil fuel reductions—or else face a warming world with devastating consequences.   Deliberate deception: Instead of acting, companies like ExxonMobil and Shell scaled back internal climate research and funded efforts to mislead the public. Exxon scientists recognized the threat in the 1980s; Shell’s confidential 1988 report bluntly predicted dramatic climate shifts—then both companies chose disinformation over disclosure.   Modern misconduct: In recent years, tactics have shifted but the goals remain the same. Front groups, greenwashing campaigns, lobbying against climate policies, and even allegations of hacking aimed at climate advocates show that the industry continues to prioritize profits over people and the planet.   This new evidence contributes to the expanding body of material being used in litigation to demonstrate fossil fuel corporations’ knowledge of climate risks, their role in misleading the public, and the resulting harms to communities.   A Surge in Climate Litigation—and a Counteroffensive   Right now, nearly a quarter of the U.S. population lives in a community suing major fossil fuel companies. From Hawai‘i to Minnesota to Massachusetts, state and local governments are bringing cases grounded in allegations of fraud, deception, and damages—arguing that companies misled the public and policymakers, exacerbating the climate crisis and imposing mounting costs on communities.   These are costs that individuals and taxpayers are now being forced to shoulder, whether through rebuilding after disasters, emergency health responses, or investments in climate resilience.   New research published in Nature further illustrates the scale of these harms, estimating trillions of dollars in economic losses from extreme heat alone—directly attributable to emissions from specific fossil fuel companies.   This work is growing, despite escalating efforts to silence it. In a legally unprecedented and politically charged maneuver, the Trump administration filed lawsuits to block four states—Hawai‘i, Michigan, New York, and Vermont—from pursuing climate accountability.   The DOJ’s lawsuits follow an executive order aimed at suppressing state climate action and shielding the fossil fuel industry from liability. This overreach attempts to use federal power to quash state efforts to protect residents and ecosystems from climate harm.   Attorney General Anne Lopez of Hawai‘i called the federal interference “a direct attack on Hawai‘i’s rights as a sovereign state.” Her state’s lawsuit, filed a couple days after the DOJ action, names fossil fuel companies and their trade association, the American Petroleum Institute, for decades of deceptive conduct.   The complaint specifically cites impacts like the 2023 Maui wildfires—now the deadliest U.S. wildfire in over a century—and widespread threats to water access, coastal erosion, and Native Hawaiian cultural practices.   Meanwhile, in Rhode Island, Chevron’s desperate attempt to delay accountability through a semantic argument was firmly rejected by the court. The case—originally filed in 2018—has survived multiple challenges and is poised to put Big Oil on trial in state court. The judge’s ruling signaled judicial intolerance for delay tactics and emphasized the importance of allowing states to present their full evidence of harm and deception.   The information presented in Decades of Deceit directly informs several critical aspects of legal strategies, including:   Knowledge and Foreseeability: Courts are increasingly relying on evidence that help establish when companies understood the climate consequences of their actions. This report offers a rich, detailed record of what fossil fuel executives knew—and when they knew it.   Misrepresentation and Fraud: Cases grounded in consumer protection, fraud, or racketeering statutes often require proof that companies made false or misleading statements. The internal documents and admissions described in the report help inform these elements by showing a gap between internal knowledge and external messaging.   Obstruction and Damages: Delays in climate action caused by decades of disinformation have real economic and human costs. By tracing the evolution of corporate obstruction tactics, the report informs arguments that companies are not just passively responsible but actively delayed climate action, exacerbating damages.   In short, Decades of Deceit strengthens the evidentiary foundation for courts to assess corporate liability—and empowers communities to pursue justice.   This evidence arrives at a critical moment. Fossil fuel companies are ramping up efforts to escape accountability. Their procedural maneuvers have delayed litigation for years.   Now, faced with cases reaching discovery and trial stages, corporations are reportedly lobbying for federal liability shields—an extraordinary attempt to retroactively immunize themselves from climate lawsuits.   At the same time, President Trump’s executive order attacking states’ rights to pursue climate litigation reveals how deeply fossil fuel interests have intertwined with political power. Attempts to curtail the ability of states, territories, and municipalities to seek redress in the courts threaten both environmental justice and basic democratic principles.   In this context, Decades of Deceit is not just a historical record. It is a tool for resistance—a resource for ensuring that the truth cannot be buried again.   Litigation is only one path toward climate accountability. Public understanding of corporate deception has shifted significantly over the past decade—much like it did with Big Tobacco. As evidence mounts, fossil fuel companies are facing growing reputational risks that threaten their political influence, investor standing, and public trust.   New polling from Data for Progress and Fossil Free Media underscores this shift. They found that a clear majority oppose granting these companies legal immunity from lawsuits seeking climate-related damages, with opposition cutting across party lines.   In fact, a plurality of voters (43%) say oil and gas companies—not working Americans—should shoulder more of these costs. The public is not just skeptical of corporate narratives; it’s increasingly unwilling to foot the bill for corporate misconduct.   The public sees through the fossil fuel industry’s narrative. And many now understand what the lawsuits are about: protecting communities, not punishing energy use. Holding corporations accountable for deception is not radical—it’s necessary.   The fossil fuel industry spent decades obscuring the link between its products and a warming world. These corporations understood that acknowledging reality could threaten their business models—and they acted to protect their profits accordingly. Now, we face a simple but profound question: Will those who profited from causing the harm be held responsible for it?   The evidence is overwhelming. The law is evolving. Public opinion is shifting. But accountability is not inevitable—it must be demanded, fought for, and defended.   Enough is enough. Fossil fuel companies must be held accountable in the court of public opinion and in the court of law—not just for what they did decades ago, but for the ongoing harms they cause today. We cannot allow the truth to be buried again.   http://www.ucs.org/resources/decades-deceit http://blog.ucs.org/delta-merner/new-evidence-strengthens-the-case-for-climate-accountability/ http://insideclimatenews.org/news/14052025/fossil-fuel-corporations-climate-change-accountability/ http://www.dw.com/en/pessimism-is-a-luxury-we-simply-cannot-afford/video-72492360 http://fossilfueltreaty.org/news http://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/fossil-fuels/its-only-fair-that-polluters-pay-for-climate-change-costs/   Mar. 2025   Today, Transparency International and over 250 organisations – including Greenpeace, WWF, and Actionaid Brasil – along with prominent figures issued an open letter calling for a dramatic overhaul in climate negotiations. They warn that high polluting actors have been obstructing real solutions and ambitious action, prioritising their own agendas over the urgent need for change.   Scientists and policy experts agree that the proposed changes could break this deadlock, paving the way for effective science-driven responses to climate change. The signatories represent a diverse and influential group of global organisations and experts working on the intersection of climate action, human rights, public health, and environmental justice.   The letter calls on Brazilian authorities and the UN Climate Change Body (UNFCCC) to address the growing influence of high-polluting industries at COP30. The coalition is pushing for greater transparency, accountability, and ethical standards in climate diplomacy, demanding an end to the corrupting influence of fossil fuel lobbyists.   Additionally, organisations are urging the Brazilian COP30 Presidency to lead a Global Ethical Stocktake to address conflicts of interest and transparency gaps in climate negotiations.   Fossil fuel industries and corporate lobbyists have long undermined the integrity of COPs, preventing effective climate action. Their heavy influence and privileged access to decision-makers shapes agendas and outcomes with previous host countries closely tied to the fossil fuel sector, and with observers and state delegations being packed with high polluter industry lobbyists.   This has sidelined the urgent need for bold, science-driven climate action, turning COPs into platforms for fossil fuel diplomacy instead of advancing transformative climate policies.   Maira Martini, Chief Executive Officer of Transparency International said:   "The climate crisis is no longer a future threat – it is happening now, and the global response must be built on integrity, transparency, and fairness. The corrupt influence of high-polluting industries at COP meetings undermines meaningful progress. Brazil has a unique opportunity to reset the course of climate diplomacy by ensuring that future COPs prioritise people, not polluters. We must achieve greater transparency, exclude lobbyists from high-polluting industries, and set stronger ethical standards to restore trust in the COP process.   The letter calls for four key measures to be implemented:   A conflict-of-interest policy to exclude fossil fuel and polluting industry lobbyists from state delegations; Transparency standards to ensure full public disclosure of all affiliations by COP participants and lobbyists.   Revised host country agreements and COP Presidency standards to end partnerships with polluting industries at COP30 and beyond; A reformed COP presidency selection process to ensure future hosts demonstrate real progress on climate action and human rights.   The coalition’s call reflects the growing demand for climate negotiations free from corporate interference, prioritising the planet over the profit-driven interests of powerful industries. COP30, under Brazil's leadership this November, presents a vital moment for the global community to reaffirm its commitment to a transparent, accountable, and equitable future.   http://www.transparency.org/en/press/transparency-international-partners-call-immediate-action-end-high-polluters-lobbys-climate-talks-cop30 http://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/land-and-environmental-defenders/guaranteeing-a-seat-at-the-table-at-cop30-for-voices-on-the-climate-emergencys-frontlines http://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/ior40/9271/2025/en/   Aug. 2024   Fossil fuel companies are running “a massive mis- and disinformation campaign” so that countries will slow down the adoption of renewable energy and the speed with which they “transition away” from a carbon-intensive economy, the UN has said.   Selwin Hart, the assistant secretary general of the UN, said that talk of a global “backlash” against climate action was being stoked by the fossil fuel industry, in an effort to persuade world leaders to delay emissions-cutting policies. The perception among many political observers of a rejection of climate policies was a result of this campaign, rather than reflecting the reality of what people think, he added.   “There is this prevailing narrative – and a lot of it is being pushed by the fossil fuel industry and their enablers – that climate action is too difficult, it’s too expensive,” he said. “It is absolutely critical that leaders, and all of us, push back and explain to people the value of climate action, but also the consequences of climate inaction.”   He contrasted the perception of a backlash with the findings of the biggest poll ever conducted on the climate, which found clear majorities of people around the world supporting measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The survey found 72% of people wanted a “quick transition” away from fossil fuels, including majorities in the countries that produce the most coal, oil and gas. Green parties and plans may have suffered reverses in some parts of the world, he said, but in others they have gained seats, and seen policies that would once have been considered radical enter the mainstream.   Governments must take note, said Hart, who acts as special adviser on climate to the UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres. “This should alert political leaders – those that are ambitious are not only on the right side of history, they’re on the side of their people as well.   “Climate appears to be dropping down the list of priorities of leaders,” he said. “But we really need leaders now to deliver maximum ambition. And we need maximum cooperation. Unfortunately, we are not seeing that at the moment.”   He warned that the consequences of inaction were being felt in rich countries as well as poor. In the US, many thousands of people are finding it increasingly impossible to insure their homes, as extreme weather worsens.   “This is directly due to the climate crisis, and directly due to the use of fossil fuels,” he said. “Ordinary people are having to pay the price of a climate crisis while the fossil fuel industry continues to reap excess profits and still receives massive government subsidies.” Yet the world has never been better equipped to tackle climate breakdown, Hart added. “Renewables are the cheapest they’ve ever been, the pace of the energy transition is accelerating,” he said.   Governments should also take care to ensure that their climate policies did not place unfair burdens on those on low incomes, as poorly designed measures could hurt the poor, according to Hart.   “Each country will really need to ensure its transition is well planned to minimise the impact on people and vulnerable populations, because a lot of the so-called pushback comes when there’s a perception that the costs on poor and vulnerable persons are being disproportionately felt,” he said.   For that reason, the UN is calling for new national plans on the emissions reductions required under the 2015 Paris agreement, in which governments must set out clearly not just their targets but how they will be achieved through policy, and what the probable impacts are.   The new national plans, called nationally determined contributions (NDCs), should be “as consultative as possible so that whole segments of society – young people, women, children, workers – will be able to provide their perspective on how the transition should be planned and well-managed, and how it will be financed”, he said.   “Despite everything we see in the form of extreme weather, we’re still not seeing the level of ambition or action that the world desperately needs.”   http://wmo.int/news/media-centre/wmo-report-documents-spiralling-weather-and-climate-impacts http://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/a79176-access-information-climate-change-and-human-rights-report-special http://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session57/advance-versions/A-HRC-57-30-AEV.pdf http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/05/half-of-worlds-co2-emissions-come-from-36-fossil-fuel-firms-study-shows http://influencemap.org/briefing/The-Carbon-Majors-Database-2023-Update-31397 http://influencemap.org/ http://apnews.com/article/climate-change-liability-lawsuits-damage-trillions-5ad21e47b2aa16cc90cb7669f56297f1 http://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08751-3 http://blog.ucs.org/carly-phillips/the-infuriating-story-told-by-the-corporate-and-national-carbon-emissions-data   http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/13/fossil-fuel-lobby-immunity-lawsuits http://academic.oup.com/oocc/article/5/1/kgaf011/8099165/ http://clxtoolkit.com/publications/report-loss-and-damage-litigation-against-carbon-majors/ http://climate.copernicus.eu/copernicus-june-2024-marks-12th-month-global-temperature-reaching-15degc-above-pre-industrial http://www.iisd.org/articles/press-release/carbon-minefields-oil-gas-exploration-surging-pre-covid-levels http://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jul/24/new-oil-gas-emission-data-us-uk http://taxjustice.net/2024/09/11/how-greenlaundering-conceals-the-full-scale-of-fossil-fuel-financing/   http://www.urgewald.org/en/medien/investing-climate-chaos-2024-institutional-investors-43-trillion-deep-fossil-fuel-industry http://influencemap.org/mediabriefing/50-Years-of-Consistent-Oil-and-Gas-Advocacy-Against-Renewables-and-Electric-Vehicles-29011 http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2024/11/29/by-sidelining-climate-disinformation-cop29-undermines-climate-action/ http://climateintegrity.org/evidence/climate-deception http://climateintegrity.org/evidence/plastics-deception http://insideclimatenews.org/news/19022025/scientists-launch-corporate-harm-research-center/ http://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/digital-threats/falsehoods-and-forecasts-our-2025-predictions-climate-disinformation/ http://www.dw.com/en/donald-trumps-dismissal-of-climate-scientists-will-it-have-a-global-impact/a-72450965 http://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/a79176-access-information-climate-change-and-human-rights-report-special Visit the related web page
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