Lawsuits alleging that fossil fuel companies caused cities' and county's climate change-related injuries. 

County of Santa Cruz v. Chevron Corp.

Litigation

Sabin

Sabin Litigation

notice

City of Richmond v. Chevron Corp. - notice

Filing Year For Action

City of Richmond v. Chevron Corp.

City of Santa Cruz v. Chevron Corp. - notice

City of Santa Cruz v. Chevron Corp.

notice of appeal

County of Santa Cruz v. Chevron Corp. - notice of appeal

order

California Federal Court Remanded Three More Municipal Climate Change Cases to State Court; Order Stayed Until Appeals of Other Remand Orders Are Resolved

reply

County of Santa Cruz v. Chevron Corp. - reply

opposition

County of Santa Cruz v. Chevron Corp. - opposition

motion

County of Santa Cruz v. Chevron Corp. - motion

Fossil Fuel Companies Removed Santa Cruz Lawsuits to Federal Court

complaint

City of Richmond Filed Lawsuit in California State Court Seeking Climate Change Damages

City and County of Santa Cruz Filed Lawsuits Against Fossil Fuel Companies Seeking Damages for Climate Change-Related Injuries

City of Santa Cruz v. Chevron Corp. - complaint

County of Santa Cruz v. Chevron Corp. - order

<p>This entry was provided by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. Please see the terms of use for citation and licensing of third party data.</p>

Any compulsory, unrequited payment to the government levied on corporations or individuals. This can be for environmental reasons, such as introducing a Carbon tax to set a price that emitters must pay for the greenhouse gases they emit.

Financial support to help individuals manage the effects of unexpected events, securing their livelihoods and increasing the resilience of people and businesses to the changing climate. It’s especially vital in developing regions where everyday risks, climate-related weather extremes, or crop failures can push people into poverty. Without insurance, people may have to resort to selling assets or cutting consumption to cope with losses.

Tradable permits are market-based tools that grant permission for specific activities, frequently used to regulate emissions. These permits can be issued within a trading system to manage environmental impacts.

Direct investments by the governments using public funds. This can be to support climate initiatives or integrate climate into other projects.

Zoning and spatial planning are both methods for guiding the distribution of people and activities in a space, and are regulatory restriction.

Financial actors and resources that are primarily directed towards climate change mitigation, adaptation and compensation.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

A company that is owned wholly or partially by the state, typically operating in key sectors.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

A long-lived, colourless gas, chiefly emitted from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and cement production.

A potent, short-lived greehouse gas, largely released from livestock, fossil fuel extraction and waste management.

Actions to adapt human health, healthcare systems and well-being to climate change.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater systems to climate change.

Conditions that enhance the feasibility of adaptation options. Enabling conditions include finance, technological innovation, strengthening policy instruments, institutional capacity, multi-level governance and changes in human behaviour and lifestyles.

Coastal zone and marine-related actions and measures to adapt and increase resilience to climate change

Actions to adapt and increase the resilience of rural and urban infrastructure and settlements to climate change.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater, coastal and marine systems to climate change.

Production of electricity and heat from solar irradiation.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.

Coal is a combustible sedimentary rock formed from carbonised plant matter, rich in carbon and hydrocarbons, and occurring in several main types including hard coal and brown coal.

People who are less able to respond to the effects of climate change due to having limited financial or physical assets

woman and genders outside of the gender binary

People who have left their homes, whether through force, voluntarily, or a mixture of both

Activities involving the catching, processing, and selling of fish for food, recreation, and industry.

Activities that provide lodging, food, and entertainment services to guests, including hotels, restaurants, and resorts.

Activities of industries that extract natural resources, such as mining, oil, and gas, for commercial use.

This sector involves managing waste treatment, sanitation, pollution control and environmental cleanup.

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

This sector involves the distribution, treatment, and conservation of water resources.

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

The activities of industries that transforms raw materials into finished goods through industrial processes.

The activities of industries involved in the production, distribution, and sale of energy, including electricity, gas, and renewables.

This sector creates and distributes information and entertainment through television, radio, print, and digital platforms.

Activities that involve the cultivation of crops and raising of livestock for food, fibre, and other products essential for human life and industry.

Activities of government agencies and institutions that provide public services, enforce laws and manage public resources.

This sector involves activities that impart knowledge and skills to individuals, including formal schooling, vocational training and educational support.

Terrestrial means "of the earth" and relates to the risks to ecological system that includes all living organisms and their interactions within land-based environments, such as forests, grasslands, and deserts.

Air pollution involves harmful contaminants in the air, affecting both indoor and outdoor environments. It can lead to health issues like respiratory diseases and heart problems, and climate impacts such as global warming. Pollutants can damage plants, trees, habitats, and water bodies like rivers and lakes.

Climate change impacts our society by disrupting the natural, economic and social systems we depend on. Physical hazards and underlying vulnerabilities can lead to increased resource competition for food and water, which can heighten the risk of conflict.

The cryosphere is the frozen part of the Earth—it includes sea ice, glaciers, snow, and ice sheets. It helps regulate the climate and weather by reflecting sunlight. Rising temperatures are causing melting, leading to sea ice loss, glacier collapse, and glacier landslides and avalanches. This threatens the livelihoods of around 700 million people who rely on the cryosphere for food, water security, and cultural practices.

Any substance with chemical properties that can cause physical harm to people or damage the environment, including ammonia, carbon monoxide, phosphine, chlorine, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, pesticides, dioxins, microplastics, benzene, asbestos, aflatoxins, fluoride, methanol, and toxins from marine sources.

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

Risks to the ecosystem health of the marine environment, including ocean warming, ocean acidification, and ocean deoxygenation, harming biodiversity, species health, ecosystem services, and coastal community livelihoods.

Climate change can have a range of impacts on technological system. Extreme weather events can cause infrastructure failures like power outages or damage to roads and bridges, as well as the impacts from waste following natural disasters. Human activities also cause technological impacts, such as the risks posed by oil spillage and leaks.

Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

Geohazards are adverse geological phenomenon's that are capable of causing widespread damage or loss to property, life and the environment, such as earthquakes, volcano eruptions and tsunamis. Climate change can increase the frequency and severity of some geohazards, such as landslides, and soil erosion.

An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

Alaska

Alabama

Arkansas

American Samoa

Arizona

California

Colorado

Connecticut

District of Columbia

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Guam

Hawaii

Iowa

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Massachusetts

Maryland

Maine

Michigan

Minnesota

Missouri

Northern Mariana Islands

Mississippi

Montana

North Carolina

North Dakota

Nebraska

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

Nevada

New York

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Puerto Rico

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

United States Minor Outlying Islands

Utah

Virginia

Virgin Islands, U.S.

Vermont

Washington

Wisconsin

West Virginia

Wyoming

The Climate Litigation Database

Find climate change litigation data and indicators for {text}.

{text} litigation

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law provides Climate Litigation Database, a comprehensive database of US and Global climate change caselaw

Quickly and easily search through the complete text of thousands of climate change law and policy documents from every country.

City of Santa Cruz v. Chevron Corp.

About this case

Documents

Summary

Topics mentioned most in this case
Beta

City of Santa Cruz v. Chevron Corp.

About this case

Documents

Summary

Topics mentioned most in this case Beta

Topics mentioned most in this case
Beta