In two decisions, a Massachusetts Superior Court denied Exxon Mobil Corporation’s (Exxon’s) motions to dismiss an action brought by the Massachusetts Attorney General asserting that Exxon systematically and intentionally misled investors and consumers about climate change. In the first decision, the court declined to dismiss the action on personal jurisdiction grounds or for failure to state a claim. With respect to personal jurisdiction, the court found that the Commonwealth sufficiently alleged that its investor deception claim arose from Exxon’s contacts with Massachusetts. Regarding the consumer deception claims, the court found that the claims arose from Exxon’s advertisements through its Massachusetts franchisees, and that the court therefore could assert personal jurisdiction over Exxon based on the Supreme Judicial Court’s <a href="https://climatecasechart.com/wp-content/uploads/case-documents/2018/20180413_docket-SJC-12376_opinion.pdf">previous determination</a> that Exxon’s franchise network of retail service stations satisfied the “transacting any business” prong of the Massachusetts personal jurisdiction statute. The court also found that the exercise of jurisdiction over Exxon satisfied the Massachusetts long-arm statute and due process requirements. In rejecting Exxon’s arguments that Massachusetts failed to state a claim, the court found that Massachusetts’s allegations regarding statements to investors that climate change risks did not pose a meaningful threat were sufficient to survive a motion to dismiss. The court rejected Exxon’s characterization of the allegations as based on failures to disclose information readily available to the public. The court also found that the allegations plausibly alleged that Exxon deliberatively misrepresented and omitted information about the risks of climate change and that Exxon was engaged in trade or commerce when it made the allegedly deceptive statements. The court also found that the Commonwealth’s deceptive advertising claims did not have to be based on allegations that Exxon’s representations about particular fuel products were false, only that the representations were misleading. In addition, the court found that it could not conclude at this stage of the litigation that Exxon’s representations would not mislead a “reasonable consumer”; the court also was not persuaded by Exxon’s argument that the claims involved a “pure omission” not subject to liability. Regarding the Commonwealth’s “greenwashing” claims, the court concluded that it would not be appropriate to determine at the motion to dismiss stage whether the alleged misrepresentations were “inactionable puffery.” The court also declined to rule at this stage on whether any of the allegedly misleading statements to investors and customers constituted speech protected by the First Amendment.

Action by Massachusetts attorney general asserting that Exxon Mobil Corporation committed deceptive practices against Massachusetts investors and consumers, including by failing to disclose climate change risks.

Commonwealth v. Exxon Mobil Corp.

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Massachusetts Court Declined to Dismiss Massachusetts Investor and Consumer Protection Action Against Exxon

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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.

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

Actions to reduce emissions in energy generation and supply.

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.

A drought is an extended period of unusually dry weather marked by a significant and sustained lack of precipitation, falling below a specific threshold over a large area for more than a month

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.

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.

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

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

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

Activities of businesses and institutions that provide financial services and products to individuals and organisations.

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.

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.

Massachusetts Court Declined to Dismiss Massachusetts Investor and Consumer Protection Action Against Exxon

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance