Charging climate polluters with homicide
Climate experts and legal advocates are targeting major polluters like TotalEnergies, seeking to hold them criminally accountable for deaths caused by extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change.
Lois Parshley reports for The Lever.
In short:
- Elisa's mother died in a historic flood in France, prompting a lawsuit against TotalEnergies, accusing the company of involuntary manslaughter.
- The case is bolstered by attribution science, which links specific climate disasters to emissions from fossil fuel companies.
- Advocates argue that civil lawsuits haven't led to sufficient change, and criminal charges might push for more urgent action.
Key quote:
“The main objective of our litigation is really to hold [TotalEnergies] responsible for past decisions and past and current and future impacts of climate change.”
— Hadrien Goux, French nonprofit Bloom Association
Why this matters:
Legal and scientific minds are teaming up, using cutting-edge climate science to argue that these deaths aren't just tragic accidents but preventable outcomes of corporate negligence. It's a legal revolution with the power to shake up the entire industry and finally put human lives at the center of the climate conversation. Read more: Robbie Parks on climate justice and mental health.
