On 6 to 8 November 2018, LSE will be hosting the UK hearings of a path-breaking inquiry seeking to attribute the impacts of climate change to the world’s largest fossil fuel and cement producers.The inquiry was initiated in 2015 with a petition (PDF) by a group of Filipino citizens and civil society organisations, after a series of particularly violent typhoons hit the Philippines, causing widespread loss of life and damage to property and livelihoods...Some of the Carbon Majors challenged the Commission’s authority to hear the petition...During 2018, experts from around the world have submitted briefs in support of the petitioners and a series of public hearings have already taken place. While the Carbon Majors have not so far taken part in the hearings, the Commission has heard from victims of typhoons and a series of expert witnesses on climate change and human rights. Overseas sessions, in New York and London, have been scheduled with the aim of bringing the investigation closer to the Carbon Majors’ headquarters and to spread awareness about the process. The Commission’s hope is to help ‘establish processes for hearing human rights victims especially with regard to trans-boundary harm, clarify standards for corporate reporting and help identify basic rights and duties relative to climate change’...The outcome of the Carbon Majors inquiry...resonates well beyond the Philippines and may mark a milestone in the history of climate change litigation worldwide.

You can follow the hearings live here. To find out how to attend in person, please contact [email protected] by Friday 2 November, indicating if you would like to attend on 6 or 7 November, and a preference for the morning or the afternoon session.