The Delaware trial court hearing the State of Delaware’s climate change case against fossil fuel industry defendants denied the State’s application for interlocutory review by the Delaware Supreme Court of the trial court’s January 2024 decision narrowing the scope of the State’s claims. The trial court found that although its decision had determined “substantial issues of material importance,” the “likely benefits of interlocutory review do not outweigh the inefficiency, disruption, and probable costs.” The trial court said “[r]eliance on well-established federal precedent” and application of a recent Delaware Supreme Court decision (on nuisance) did not warrant interlocutory review as of right. The court also found that its opinion did not conflict with decisions of other Delaware trial courts and that interlocutory appeal “clearly will not terminate the litigation.”

Lawsuit seeking to hold the fossil fuel industry liable for the physical, environmental, social, and economic consequences of climate change in Delaware.

State v. BP America Inc.

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Delaware Trial Court Denied Interlocutory Appellate Review for Its Decision Narrowing State’s Claims Against Fossil Fuel Defendants

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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.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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 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.

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

Delaware Trial Court Denied Interlocutory Appellate Review for Its Decision Narrowing State’s Claims Against Fossil Fuel Defendants

Risk

Fossil fuel

Economic sector