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Stand Environmental Society, Edgar Dearden, and Lorraine Goldman v. FortisBC Energy Inc., FortisBC Holdings Inc., and Fortis Inc. - application

Filing Year For Action

NGOs and residents brought claims that FortisBC’s marketing of gas and renewable natural gas misleads customers about climate impacts. The suit alleges deceptive marketing and seeks remedies. The case has generated regulatory attention given national focus on corporate environmental claims.

Stand Environmental Society, Edgar Dearden, and Lorraine Goldman v. FortisBC Energy Inc., FortisBC Holdings Inc., and Fortis Inc.

A subsidy is a direct or indirect payment to individuals or businesses, typically provided as a government cash payment or a specific tax reduction.

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.

A ban is a legal action that prevents the sale or supply of a product or service, or that recalls a product from the market. Examples are bans on SF6, greenwashing, fossil fuel advertisement or single-use plastics.

A loan is a policy instrument where funds are provided to a borrower with the expectation of repaying the principal plus interest.

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

A commitment to balance GHG emissions with removal by a certain point in time, effectively reducing the net emissions to zero

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

A target to reduce the prevalence of a greenhouse gas over a specific time frame

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

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

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.

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

Energy derived from biological compounds that are renewable due to their short life cycle within the carbon dioxide cycle.

Electrical energy generated from mechanical devices driven by flowing fresh water.

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.

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.

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.

Social and cultural groups that share collective ancestral ties to the lands and natural resources where they live, occupy or from which they have been displaced

People with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

An enterprise or financial institution that is usually majority-owned, backed or significantly controlled by nation-state governments.

Stand Environmental Society, Edgar Dearden, and Lorraine Goldman v. FortisBC Energy Inc., FortisBC Holdings Inc., and Fortis Inc.

About this case

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Stand Environmental Society, Edgar Dearden, and Lorraine Goldman v. FortisBC Energy Inc., FortisBC Holdings Inc., and Fortis Inc.

About this case

Documents

Summary

Topics mentioned most in this case Beta

Topics mentioned most in this case
Beta