Los Angeles County Counsel Dawyn R. Harrison filed an action against PepsiCo, Inc., The Coca-Cola Company, and companies that manufactured and distributed Pepsi and Coca-Cola beverages. The suit alleged, on behalf of the People of the State of California, that the defendants created harmful plastic pollution and waste that created a nuisance. The People also asserted that the defendants violated the California Unfair Competition Law by making deceptive representations regarding single-use plastic and chemical recycling, by failing to disclose the presence of microplastics in their products and the risks of microplastics, and by creating a public nuisance. In addition, the complaint asserted a violation of the California False Advertising Law. The suit seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, abatement of the public nuisance, restitution, civil penalties, and attorneys’ fees and costs. Plastic pollution harms alleged in the complaint including climate change-related harms, including that plastic pollution diminishes the capacity of ecosystems to adapt to climate change and that some plastic resins release greenhouse gases as they break down in the environment. In addition, the complaint alleged that recycling was incapable of eliminating plastic production’s impacts, including greenhouse gas emissions, and that “advanced recycling” has higher greenhouse gas emissions than traditional, mechanical recycling.

Action against beverage producers alleging that they generated plastic pollution that created a nuisance and made deceptive representations regarding single-use plastic and chemical recycling.

People v. PepsiCo, Inc.

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Lawsuit Said Beverage Companies Created Plastic Pollution Nuisance and Misrepresented Single-Use Plastic’s Recyclability and Environmental Impacts

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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

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.

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

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.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater systems 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.

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.

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.

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.

Jobs that contribute to preserving or restoring the environment. We include jobs which require a high amount of green skills or which spend much of their time on green activities, as well as jobs transforming polluting industries.

People whose health, both mental and physical, makes them more vulnerable to the effects of climate change

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

Lawsuit Said Beverage Companies Created Plastic Pollution Nuisance and Misrepresented Single-Use Plastic’s Recyclability and Environmental Impacts

Target

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance