"Climate change is killing us. We must use the law to fight it", 24 Jun 2015

...Our current use of fossil fuels has “potentially catastrophic effects for human health and human survival”, according to a major new report...by medical journal the Lancet and University College London...Kofi Annan’s Global Humanitarian Forum estimated that there were already 300,000 deaths a year from additional heatwaves, floods, droughts and forest fires attributable to global warming...[S]ince the beginning of industrialisation, the concentration of carbon in the air has increased from 280 to 400 parts per million...In this situation, you might expect governments to sue the fossil fuel companies and claim damages on behalf of their citizens, but it seems that the boot is firmly on the other foot. Large corporations are increasingly suing democratically elected governments that pass laws or impose regulations that may be detrimental to commercial interests...Legal action for damages would have to start with the 90 fossil fuel companies that are estimated to be responsible for two-thirds of all carbon emissions...It will take carefully planned popular pressure to weaken corporate opposition and push governments into acting on our behalf...[Also refers to BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell]