opinion

Ninth Circuit Ruled for California Cities and Counties on Questions of Whether Climate Lawsuits Against Energy Companies Belonged in State or Federal Court

Public nuisance actions brought by City of Oakland and City of San Francisco against fossil fuel companies.

City of Oakland v. BP p.l.c.

Litigation

Sabin

Sabin Litigation

City of Oakland v. BP p.l.c. - Other

order

Ninth Circuit Denied Rehearing of Decision that Federal-Question Jurisdiction Did Not Provide Basis for Removing Oakland and San Francisco Climate Cases to Federal Court

amicus brief

City of Oakland v. BP p.l.c. - amicus brief

City of Oakland v. BP p.l.c. - order

motion

City of Oakland v. BP p.l.c. - motion

petition for rehearing

City of Oakland v. BP p.l.c. - petition for rehearing

letter

City of Oakland v. BP p.l.c. - letter

District Court Asked Ninth Circuit to Delete Footnote in Opinion Reversing Determination on Removal Jurisdiction

Fossil Fuel Companies Must File Petitions for Rehearing by July 9

notice

City of Oakland v. BP p.l.c. - notice

City of Oakland and County of San Mateo Appeals to Be Heard by Same Panel

reply

City of Oakland v. BP p.l.c. - reply

request

City of Oakland v. BP p.l.c. - request

brief

Oakland, San Francisco, and Amici Argued for Revival of Climate Change Nuisance Case

City of Oakland v. BP p.l.c. - brief

Filing Year For Action

The Climate Litigation Database

Find climate change litigation data and indicators for {text}.

{text} litigation

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law provides Climate Litigation Database, a comprehensive database of US and Global climate change caselaw

Quickly and easily search through the complete text of thousands of climate change law and policy documents from every country.

Search the Climate Litigation Database

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.

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

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

Activities that involve the cultivation of crops and raising of livestock for food, fibre, and other products essential for human life and industry.

People with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

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

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

This sector provides communication services, software development, and IT solutions.

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.

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

Financial support to help individuals manage the effects of unexpected events, securing their livelihoods and increasing the resilience of people and businesses to the changing climate. It’s especially vital in developing regions where everyday risks, climate-related weather extremes, or crop failures can push people into poverty. Without insurance, people may have to resort to selling assets or cutting consumption to cope with losses.

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.

Codes and standards are regulatory instruments that specify minimum standards to protect health and safety. This ranges from performance standards, which prescribe outcomes while allowing flexibility to achieve compliance, to the more prescriptive approach of technology-specific standards.

The release of heat-trapping gases, primarily from human activities such as burning fossil fuels, agriculture and industry.

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.

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.

Activities of government agencies and institutions that provide public services, enforce laws and manage public resources.

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

Activities that relate to the production of goods and services from forests.

This sector includes firms and individuals offering specialised expertise in fields such as law, accounting, consulting, science and engineering.

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

Terrestrial means "of the earth" and relates to the risks to ecological system that includes all living organisms and their interactions within land-based environments, such as forests, grasslands, and deserts.

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

Activities of industries that extract natural resources, such as mining, oil, and gas, for commercial use.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

This sector involves activities that impart knowledge and skills to individuals, including formal schooling, vocational training and educational support.

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.

Coastal zone and marine-related actions and measures to adapt and increase resilience to climate change

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