The Political Economy of Climate Change Litigation: Is There a Point to Suing Fossil Fuel Companies?

The research argues that litigation against individual fossil fuel companies is an ineffective mitigation strategy because it ignores the systemic nature of growth-dependent capitalism and the ability of corporations to absorb legal costs. The author suggests that changing the law to provide systemic recourse and pursuing fossil fuel nationalisation would be more effective than pursuing individual offenders.

• Litigation against individual carbon-intensive corporations is viewed as an ineffective mitigation strategy because these companies can absorb the costs of lawsuits, and if some are forced out of business, competitors will simply replace them to extract remaining reserves.
• The core problem is identified as the social structure of private corporations within a growth-dependent capitalist system, rather than the actions of specific companies.
• The author recommends fossil fuel nationalisation as a potentially more effective mitigation strategy than individual litigation, suggesting that legal efforts should focus on changing the law to provide systemic recourse for environmental degradation.

APA

Gunderson, R. (2021). The Political Economy of Climate Change Litigation: Is There a Point to Suing Fossil Fuel Companies? Climate Social Science Network. https://cssn.org/the-political-economy-of-climate-change-litigation-is-there-a-point-to-suing-fossil-fuel-companies/

Chicago

Gunderson, Ryan. The Political Economy of Climate Change Litigation: Is There a Point to Suing Fossil Fuel Companies? Climate Social Science Network, 2021. https://cssn.org/the-political-economy-of-climate-change-litigation-is-there-a-point-to-suing-fossil-fuel-companies/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Gunderson |first1=Ryan |title=The Political Economy of Climate Change Litigation: Is There a Point to Suing Fossil Fuel Companies? |publisher=Climate Social Science Network |date=31 August 2021 |url=https://cssn.org/the-political-economy-of-climate-change-litigation-is-there-a-point-to-suing-fossil-fuel-companies/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{gunderson2021political, author = {Gunderson, Ryan}, title = {{The Political Economy of Climate Change Litigation: Is There a Point to Suing Fossil Fuel Companies?}}, institution = {Climate Social Science Network}, year = {2021}, month = aug, url = {https://cssn.org/the-political-economy-of-climate-change-litigation-is-there-a-point-to-suing-fossil-fuel-companies/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }