The federal district court for the District of Hawaii ruled that insurers had no duty to defend a fossil fuel company policyholder under 10 policies that included pollution exclusions in climate change-related lawsuits brought in Hawaiʻi state courts by the County of Maui and the City and County of Honolulu. The district court previously certified two questions to the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court regarding what would constitute a covered “occurrence” and whether greenhouse gases are “pollutants.” The district court concluded that although the allegations in the underlying complaints of reckless behavior would constitute a covered occurrence, the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court had “unequivocally” ruled in the insurer’s favor by holding that greenhouse gases were pollutants and by concluding that the policyholder could not rely on legal uncertainty created by a national dispute over whether pollution exclusions should be limited to traditional pollutants because the policyholder’s claims would be excluded under either interpretation. The court said it would address the duty to defend under policies that did not include pollution exclusions in a subsequent decision.

Fossil fuel company's lawsuit against insurer for breaching its obligations to defend and indemnify the company in underlying climate change cases brought by Honolulu and Maui.

Aloha Petroleum Ltd. v. National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh

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Federal Court Said Pollution Exclusions Barred Coverage of Climate Claims Against Fossil Fuel Company

Filed

United States of America

Hawaii

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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

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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.

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