· 3 min read
illuminem summarises for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece on EcoWatch or enjoy below:
🗞️ Driving the news: A new peer-reviewed study published in Nature reveals that 111 major fossil fuel companies are collectively responsible for $28 trillion in economic damages due to heat caused by climate change
• Using attribution science and emissions data dating back 137 years, researchers linked extreme heat-related losses to individual corporate emitters
• The top 10 companies, including ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Aramco (see sustainability performance), accounted for over half the total damages
🔭 The context: The findings are based on advanced climate modeling and legal attribution methods that trace Scope 1 and 3 emissions to economic impacts
• This approach addresses a critical gap in climate accountability by quantifying how specific companies have contributed to global warming
• Historically, the challenge of linking individual emitters to climate harm has hampered legal efforts for compensation under "polluter pays" principles
🌍 Why it matters for the planet: This study strengthens the scientific foundation for climate liability cases, which are gaining traction globally
• By quantifying corporate contributions to global heating, it could reshape legal, policy, and financial accountability frameworks
• However, the analysis only covers heat-related damage, excluding other climate impacts like floods or storms, suggesting that true costs may be even higher
⏭️ What's next: The study may influence ongoing and future climate litigation, especially in the U.S., where over half of the 68 known climate damage lawsuits have been filed
• As attribution science advances, more cases could emerge globally, potentially leading to regulatory changes and financial repercussions for major emitters
• Governments, courts, and climate advocates are expected to increasingly rely on such data in arguments for restitution and stricter emission controls
💬 One quote: “The veil of plausible deniability doesn’t exist anymore scientifically. We can actually trace harms back to major emitters.” — Justin Mankin, co-author and climate scientist, Dartmouth College
📈 One stat: Each 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions since 1990 has resulted in approximately $502 billion in heat-related economic damage
See on illuminem's Data Hub™ the sustainability performance of Aramco, ExxonMobil, Chevron and their peers BP, and Shell
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