In the State of Delaware’s case alleging that fossil fuel industry defendants concealed the climate change risks of their products, leading to climate change harms to the State, the Delaware Superior Court granted in part and denied in part the 14 motions to dismiss filed by the defendants. The court first held that the Clean Air Act preempted Delaware’s state common law claims that sought “damages for injuries resulting from out-of-state or global greenhouse emissions and interstate pollution” but not claims and damages originating from air pollution sources in Delaware. The court further found that Delaware stated claims for public nuisance and trespass only “for land the State owns directly, but not for land the State holds in public trust.” The court acknowledged that “damages caused by air pollution limited to State-owned property may be difficult to isolate and measure” but deferred that issue to a later stage of the case. The court also allowed the State to proceed with its claim that the defendants failed to warn of the climate change dangers of their products. The court found that the question of whether there was no duty to warn because the dangers were open and obvious was not appropriate for resolution at this stage. The court also concluded that the case did not present a nonjusticiable political question and found the State alleged sufficient connections to Delaware activities to demonstrate specific personal jurisdiction over individual defendants who contested personal jurisdiction. The court declined to resolve the issues of whether D.C. and California anti-SLAPP (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation) laws applied only to D.C. and California speech and whether the First Amendment protected statements made by American Petroleum Institute. The court dismissed claims alleging greenwashing and other misrepresentations against certain individual defendants because the State did not “specifically identify alleged misrepresentations for each individual defendant” but granted Delaware leave to amend the misrepresentation claims with particularity. The court dismissed claims under the Delaware Consumer Fraud Act as barred by the statute of limitations, finding that the defendants provided unrefuted evidence that the public had knowledge of or access to information about the defendants’ alleged “campaign of deception” decades before the five-year statute of limitations period expired. The court also dismissed the French energy company TotalEnergies SE for failure to serve with process. 

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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State Court Allowed Delaware’s Common Law Claims to Proceed Against Fossil Fuel Defendants but Limited Scope of Claims; Consumer Protection Act Claims Dismissed as Untimely

Filed

United States of America

Delaware

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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

Direct investments by the governments using public funds. This can be to support climate initiatives or integrate climate into other projects.

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.

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.

Hot temperature extremes are daily maximum temperatures  that were exceeded on average once in a decade or once in 50 years, and includes heatwaves.

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

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

A potent, short-lived greehouse gas, largely released from livestock, fossil fuel extraction and waste management.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Heavy precipitation refers to any form of weather where substances fall from the sky, including rain, snow, sleet, or hail.

State Court Allowed Delaware’s Common Law Claims to Proceed Against Fossil Fuel Defendants but Limited Scope of Claims; Consumer Protection Act Claims Dismissed as Untimely

Policy instrument

Risk

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Finance