Paper short abstract:

Major energy companies are no longer denying climate change, but are rejecting responsibility for its impacts in their defences against climate justice lawsuits. Large polluters try to evade legal responsibility by shifting blame to broader economic forces and invalidating scientific evidence.

Paper long abstract:

In recent litigation against major greenhouse gas emitters over their contribution to climate change, fossil fuel companies are no longer denying that human activities are causing global warming. Rather, they make political arguments about the responsibility of society – rather than individual polluters – for causing global warming. In addition, they question the validity of climate science for establishing legal responsibility. This paper analyzes corporate defendants’ evidentiary arguments in four climate change lawsuits. I examine the defendants’ efforts to obfuscate the role of individual emitters, invalidate scientific proof and attack researchers’ credibility. Plaintiffs’ and defendants’ legal narratives and factual claims are linked to broader concerns about who should take responsibility for climate change. Like all knowledge, climate science is inherently value-imbued, emerging in relation to policymakers’ demands, public concerns and researchers’ academic interests. While climate science on its own does not provide all the answers, it serves as a crucial tool for addressing legal and political questions about responsibility and justice in a warming world.