Climate Justice

Climate Activists Are Learning How To Protect Their Protest Rights

February 11, 2024 Robyn Gulliver, Waging Nonviolence. Strategize! Anti-protest Bills, Australia, Climate Justice

In November, a significant event unfolded at the world’s largest coal port in Newcastle, New South Wales when 3,000 people gathered to block coal shipments in and out of the Australian port. When activists remained on the water past the approved 4 p.m. blockade cut-off, 109 people were arrested. Rising Tide spokesperson Alexa Stuart explained the group’s rationale, stating that “If the government will not take action on climate change, the people will use civil disobedience. We wish we did not have to do this, but [Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government] needs to understand we are serious.” Fast forward a mere three months and this mass arrest has been met with substantial judicial restraint.

Six Lessons For Climate Activists In Turbulent Times

February 1, 2024 Nick Engelfried, Waging Nonviolence. Strategize! climate crisis, Climate Justice, Youth Activism

Not many eras in modern U.S. history have been as turbulent for activists as the last 18 months. Grassroots organizers have had to contend with a lingering pandemic, increasingly unstable geopolitics and signs that Earth’s ecological systems are finally paying us back for decades of abuse. For the climate movement in particular, it’s been a confusing time with unprecedented wins juxtaposed against a backdrop of worsening planetary crises. I had the chance to reflect deeply on these realities while preparing an updated edition of “Movement Makers: How Young Activists Upended the Politics of Climate Change” — a book that distills inspirational moments and lessons from more than two decades of youth-led climate organizing in the United States.

Havas London Targeted By Climate Activists Over Relationship With Shell

January 29, 2024 Ellen Ormesher, DeSmog. Resist! Climate Justice, Public Relations, Shell Oil, United Kingdom (UK)

For the second time in four months, climate activists have gathered at the headquarters of Havas London to protest the ad agency’s relationship with Shell. According to the group, Extinction Rebellion or XR, Thursday’s protest was spurred by a whistleblower’s tip-off that Havas would be meeting with Shell to discuss new work for the fossil fuel giant. The trade publication Campaign recently reported that Shell’s global PR account is up for review this quarter. Caroline from Scientists for XR said that the group received a positive reception from Havas employees, “who are by and large young creatives.”

In Trial, Climatologist Confronts Climate Deniers Who Maligned His Work

January 28, 2024 Diane Bernard, DeSmog. Educate! climate denial, Climate Justice, Defamation, Legal System, Michael Mann

Twelve years after he sued two climate deniers for defamation, climate scientist Michael Mann took the stand during the second week of the trial against them in Washington, D.C. Mann’s testimony painted a picture of a respected and accomplished scientist and academic who has been deeply hurt, personally and professionally, by accusations of scientific deception. In 2012, Rand Simberg and Mark Steyn publicly accused Mann, then a professor at Penn State University, of scientific misconduct and fraud. Both Simberg — an adjunct scholar at the far-right think tank Competitive Enterprise Institute, which has a track record of platforming climate science deniers — and Steyn —a blogger and then-frequent guest on Fox News — challenged Mann’s climate research, and likened the situation to the sexual predator scandal that shook Penn State earlier that year.

This NGO Won A Climate Case Against Shell; Its Next Target? Dutch Bank ING

January 27, 2024 Dana Drugmand, DeSmog. Resist! Climate Justice, Friends of the Earth Netherlands, Legal System, NGOs, Shell Oil, The Netherlands, Victory

When Royal Dutch Shell lost a landmark climate lawsuit in The Netherlands, climate advocates said the Dutch court’s ruling put polluters and their financiers on notice. Now, the Dutch NGO that successfully sued Shell over its climate plans is taking those financial backers to court in a case that could help reverse the global banking sector’s support of fossil fuel firms and their activities. On January 19, Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands) announced it is initiating legal action against ING, the Netherlands’ largest bank and a major funder of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG). In a letter addressed to ING CEO Steven van Rijswijk and the first step in litigation, Milieudefensie says it believes the bank is in breach of its “duty of care” obligation under Dutch law.

After 12 Years, Trial Against Alleged Defamers Begins For Climate Scientist

January 22, 2024 DeSmog. Resist! Climate Change, Climate Justice, Climate Science, Defamation, Legal System, Science

A defamation lawsuit 12 years in the making brought by climate scientist Michael Mann opened January 18th in Washington, D.C. Superior Court. The two conservative commentators accused of defamation mounted separate defenses, and both continued to disparage Mann during the first day of this long-anticipated trial. The case centers around statements made in 2012 by right-wing blogger Rand Simberg and Fox TV personality Mark Steyn that attacked Mann, a scientist and professor who holds a doctorate from Yale. Simberg is an analyst at the far-right think tank Competitive Enterprise Institute, which has a long track record of platforming climate science denialists.

Youth Climate Case Against U.S. Government Should Go To Trial

January 7, 2024 Climate in the Courts. Resist! climate crisis, Climate Justice, Legal System, Youth Activism

A federal trial court judge in Oregon has rejected the US government’s latest attempts to quash the constitutional climate case Juliana v. United States, once again allowing the youth-led civil rights lawsuit to advance to trial. In a ruling issued on December 29, 2023, US District Judge Ann Aiken denied the government defendants’ motions to dismiss and to further stall the litigation as well as their request to bring another pre-trail appeal. Aiken’s ruling also orders the parties to arrange a pre-trial conference to discuss next steps including scheduling a trial date. The case had been previously slated to start trial five years ago on October 29, 2018, but the government’s extraordinary and repeated obstruction tactics derailed the trial and ultimately resulted in a federal appeals court ordering the case be dismissed in January 2020.

2023 Has Been A Big Year For Climate Accountability In The Courts

December 26, 2023 Dana Drugmand, DeSmog. Educate! climate crisis, Climate Justice, Legal System

Climate litigation had a momentous year in 2023. Courts worldwide heard evidence and arguments at pivotal trials and hearings. Landmark rulings marked progress in holding governments to account for climate inaction or denial, and new climate cases continued to be filed. With climate lawsuits now totaling nearly 2,500 worldwide, it is clear that courts have become a critical venue for seeking climate justice and accountability. Here are some of this year’s highlights. In a groundbreaking ruling in August, Judge Kathy Seeley of the First Judicial District Court of Montana found in Held v. State of Montana that the state’s ongoing support for and promotion of fossil fuel development — including directing state regulators not to consider a project’s climate impacts during the permitting process — violated Montana’s constitutional guarantee of the right to a clean and healthful environment, which extends to a stable climate.

Americans Abandoning Neighborhoods Due To Rising Flood Risk

December 20, 2023 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch. Educate! climate crisis, Climate Justice, Flooding, Housing

As flooding becomes more common due to the shifting and strengthening weather patterns and sea-level rise associated with climate change, so does climate migration. New research by the First Street Foundation (FSF) has combined historic population change trends with flood risk data to reveal climate migration patterns happening in areas with high flood risk across the United States. “Much of the world’s population is exposed to some kind of extreme weather event exacerbated by climate change. These events have been directly connected to impacts on human systems including economic, social, and political crises,” the authors of the study wrote.

Youth Climate Lawsuit Against Canadian Climate Policy Can Go To Trial

December 16, 2023 Dana Drugmand, DeSmog. Resist! Canada, climate crisis, Climate Justice, Legal System, Our Children's Trust, Youth Activism

A federal appeals court in Canada breathed new life into a youth-led constitutional climate lawsuit against the Canadian government, allowing it to proceed towards trial on a narrower scope and partially reversing the trial court’s ruling that the entire case should be tossed. In its opinion issued on December 13, Canada’s Federal Court of Appeal determined that one part of the legal claims asserted in the case was viable and that a trial would help assess whether that claim violates the constitution. Initially filed in 2019 by 15 young Canadians, La Rose v. His Majesty the King alleges Canada’s policies and actions that perpetuate fossil fuels and worsen the climate crisis amount to violations of youths’ fundamental rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Climate Movement Wins ‘Transition Away From Fossil Fuels’ Language

December 15, 2023 Climate Justice Alliance. Educate! climate crisis, Climate Justice, COP28, Fossil Fuels

Thanks largely to the work of climate and environmental justice leaders from around the world, we won the inclusion of ‘transition away from fossil fuels’ language in the final agreement. The inclusion is a big win in a COP held in an oil state, overseen by an oil executive, and where we witnessed the largest number of oil and gas lobbyists in attendance ever. However, we must be clear that this language does not meet the full, rapid, fair, and funded fossil fuel phase out without abatement technology that civil society demanded. It also falls immensely short because net zero is not an adequate solution to the climate crisis we find ourselves in. Instead, the agreement excludes oil and gas from phase down language, and uplifts false, unproven solutions– techno fixes like Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), hydrogen, and language on transition fuels which yet again leaves the door open for the expansion of the gas sector across the world.

International Solidarity At The First ‘World Congress For Climate Justice’

December 7, 2023 John Malamatinas, Unicorn Riot. Organize! Capitalism, Climate Justice, Italy, Solidarity

Milan, Italy — For many years, transnational movements like “Fridays for Future” or “Extinction Rebellion” have tried to push governments to comply with the 1.5 C climate threshold set in 2015 by the Paris Agreement, yet activists believe not enough has changed. The struggles against mega-projects — be it coal mines, pipelines, motorways, train lines, construction for Olympic games, or water privatization — are still happening in every continent, and many are crying out for an immediate reaction to a dystopian future. One such reaction happened in October in Milan, Italy: The World Congress for Climate Justice (WCCJ).

In COP28 Speech, Colombian President Calls For A Free Palestine

December 3, 2023 People's Dispatch. Educate! 2023 Gaza bombings, Carbon Dioxide, climate crisis, Climate Justice, Colombia, COP28, Gaza, Global Warming, Gustavo Petro

The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) began on November 30 in Dubai. Around 70,000 delegates are participating in the nearly two- week conference, including member states, business leaders, young people, climate scientists, Indigenous Peoples, journalists, and other experts and stakeholders. The conference seeks to bring together these diverse sectors in order to build serious, global solutions that can address the pressing climate crisis and accelerate collective climate action. It is taking place amid Israel’s genocidal war against the Gaza Strip, which world leaders have brought up in their addresses to the conference and in other events. In his opening remarks to the conference, Colombian President Gustavo Petro condemned the actions of rich countries which have yet to fulfill their key responsibilities and commitments.

UK Advertising Watchdog Bans Toyota SUV Ads On Environmental Grounds

November 23, 2023 T. J. Jordan, DeSmog. Resist! Advertising, Climate Justice, Environment, Toyota, United Kingdom (UK)

The UK advertising watchdog has banned two adverts for Toyota SUVs, ruling that images of cars racing over plains and through rivers condoned a style of off-road driving that “disregarded” the impact on nature. Climate advocates calling for tighter rules on advertising of heavily polluting products welcomed the Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) move — the first time it had banned SUV ads for promoting driving that harms the environment. The adverts “had not been prepared with a sense of responsibility to society,” the regulator found in a ruling published on Wednesday, made in response to a complaint by campaign groups.

The Pioneers Of Cooperativism And Climate Justice: Owen, Fourier, Du Bois

November 23, 2023 Stefano Tortorici, Grassroots Economic Organizing. Create! Charles Fourier, Climate Justice, Cooperatives, History, Robert Owen, W.E.B. Du Bois

Platform cooperatives have emerged as a recent alternative to capitalist platforms. By bringing the cooperative principles online, they have positioned themselves within the rich heritage of the two hundred years of cooperative movement history. However, they have also inherited the burden of its unresolved problems. In fact, as Yochai Benkler (2017) has eloquently stated, cooperativism has not played a transformative role in the past two centuries of capitalism. The path to proving that platform cooperatives can have a transformative role, putting an end to the obscene inequalities and forms of exploitation of the digital economy, may require revisiting the roots of cooperative identity and addressing its obstacles.

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