Climate Obstruction: A Global Assessment

Climate Obstruction: A Global Assessment

Contributor Roles

Lisa Benjamin, Jeffrey Bain Faculty Scholar and Associate Professor of Law at Lewis & Clark Law School, co-authored Chapter 12: Legal and State Efforts to Address Climate Obstruction.

Description

Climate obstruction involves intentional actions and efforts to slow or block policies on climate change that are commensurate with the current scientific consensus of what is necessary to avoid dangerous human interference with the climate system. With thirty-one lead authors coordinating twelve teams of more than one hundred total authors, this first-of-its-kind volume reviews obstruction efforts undertaken by fossil fuel industries, utilities, the transportation sector, agribusinesses, public relations firms, and organizations on the political far right. The chapters also examine the role and effects of the media in disseminating climate disinformation and misinformation. They assess climate obstruction efforts at the subnational level, in United Nations negotiations, across the Global South, and those aimed at adaptation. Finally, the reviews explore efforts to curb climate obstruction, including regulation and litigation as well as civil-society movements. This assessment shows that as climate action becomes globalized, efforts to obstruct it have become more deceptive, widespread, well-funded, and dangerous.

In recent decades, legal and governmental efforts to counteract climate disinformation and obstruction have grown. Chapter 12 summarizes these efforts, including regulation, litigation, and government-led investigations. It discusses specific regulatory tools and how, though they can address obstruction of climate action, obstruction itself can create obstacles to their passage and enforcement. It describes litigation brought to hold corporations—particularly fossil fuel companies—directly responsible for the climate harm their products caused to communities and individuals, as well as detailing government-led investigations of the carbon majors. The chapter also discusses efforts to use the law to impede climate action, including suits against scientists and protestors along with actions against environmental reforms in the financial industry. Its findings suggest that legal and state efforts to address climate obstruction have already made a significant impact and are likely to become an important component of climate action globally.

ISBN

9780197787144

Publication Date

2025

Document Type

Contribution to Book

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Editors

J. Timmons Roberts, Carlos R. S. Milani, Jennifer Jacquet, Christian Downie

First Page

332

Section Title

Legal and State Efforts to Address Climate Obstruction

City

New York

Keywords

climate disinformation, climate obstruction, fossil fuel litigation, environmental reform, climate litigation, fossil fuel industry

Disciplines

Energy and Utilities Law | Environmental Law | Law | Law and Society | Litigation | Natural Resources Law

Climate Obstruction: A Global Assessment

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