ClientEarth’s landmark litigation will be a test case about corporate director responsibility for properly preparing a company for the net zero transition and not wasting investor money.
Eleven of Shell’s most senior figures are being sued for climate inaction in a world-first case that seeks to hold company directors personally liable for hollow net zero goals, as the fossil fuel titan records an annual profit of US$40 billion ($57.6 billion).
ClientEarth, which describes itself as “the world’s most ambitious environmental organisation”, was founded by James Thornton, a Wall Street lawyer who won over 80 cases forcing the Reagan administration to clean up polluted water. The group employs 250 lawyers and policy experts in eight offices around the world.
In bringing the unusual case, ClientEarth joined forces with heavy hitters Nest, a 10 million member workplace pension scheme, and London CIV, an asset manager for London’s local government pension scheme, as well as Sweden’s national pension fund AP3, French asset manager Sanso IS and Danske Bank Asset Management.
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