Two researchers —Justin Mankin, an associate professor at Dartmouth (New Hampshire), and Chris Callahan, a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University (California)— claim to have created a tool that allows them to calculate the damage caused by pollution from each oil and gas company in terms of global warming, as well as the amount of money they could be forced to pay if they are successfully sued.
According to an article published by both academics, the greenhouse gas emissions of 111 fossil fuel companies caused, between 1991 and 2020, damages quantified at 28 trillion dollars worldwide.
Scientists say their model can determine a company's share of responsibility over any given time period, which could fuel climate litigation.
“For a long time, there has been a veil of plausible deniability behind which any emitter could hide: ‘We all emit greenhouse gases, so who can say that mine are responsible for outcomes X, Y, or Z?’” Mankin told The Washington Post. “Now we can do that accounting exercise.”
However, it is also possible that these types of calculations could unleash a "battle of experts" in the courts, with scientists hired by each side using different models and arriving at contradictory results regarding a company's responsibility for the climate crisis and its impacts.
More information here .
Two researchers —Justin Mankin, an associate professor at Dartmouth (New Hampshire), and Chris Callahan, a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University (California)— claim to have created a tool that allows them to calculate the damage caused by pollution from each oil and gas company in terms of global warming, as well as the amount of money they could be forced to pay if they are successfully sued.
According to an article published by both academics, the greenhouse gas emissions of 111 fossil fuel companies caused, between 1991 and 2020, damages quantified at 28 trillion dollars worldwide.
Scientists say their model can determine a company's share of responsibility over any given time period, which could fuel climate litigation.
“For a long time, there has been a veil of plausible deniability behind which any emitter could hide: ‘We all emit greenhouse gases, so who can say that mine are responsible for outcomes X, Y, or Z?’” Mankin told The Washington Post. “Now we can do that accounting exercise.”
However, it is also possible that these types of calculations could unleash a "battle of experts" in the courts, with scientists hired by each side using different models and arriving at contradictory results regarding a company's responsibility for the climate crisis and its impacts.
More information here .