Vancouver City Council passes motion to support Big Oil class action

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Update:

• The Vancouver City Council has passed a motion to dedicate $1 per resident toward a class action lawsuit targeting fuel companies over their alleged role in exacerbating climate change. 
• The move will allow the City of Vancouver to set aside around $700,000 toward taking on Big Oil companies such as Chevron and Shell. 
• The motion, which Councillor Adriane Carr brought, passed narrowly last week by a vote of 6-5. 
• The environmental groups Georgia Straight Alliance and West Coast Environmental Law started a campaign to bring a class action lawsuit against Big Oil companies in June.

Vancouver Big Oil class action lawsuit overview: 

• Who: Green Party councillor Adriane Carr asked the City of Vancouver to dedicate more than $600,000 to a class action lawsuit targeting fossil fuel companies. 
• Why: Carr wants Vancouver to allocate $1 for each of its approximately 662,248 residents. 
• Where: The proposed class action lawsuit is being brought by the City of Vancouver.

(July 22, 2022)

Green party councillor Adriane Carr has asked the City of Vancouver to devote more than $600,000 to support a Big Oil class action lawsuit accusing fossil fuel companies of failing to mitigate the role they play in climate change. 

The dollar amount represents $1 for each Vancouver resident, of which, according to the 2021 StatCan census, there are 662,248, the Vancouver Sun reports . 

In a motion that went to council earlier this week, Carr requested that her colleagues direct their staff to include the proposed funds in its draft 2023 operating budget. 

Carr’s request mirrors one previously made by Vancouver-based West Coast Environmental Law (WCEL) last month. The public advocacy organisation has encouraged municipalities to dedicate $1 per resident to Big Oil class actions targeting fossil fuel companies, the Vancouver Sun reports .

WCEL argues fossil fuel companies responsible for majority of carbon emissions

WCEL has argued that the world’s largest fossil fuel companies are responsible for the majority of carbon emissions released around the globe. 

“It’s not right for Vancouver taxpayers to continue paying 100\% of the costs to protect residents from climate impacts while oil giants like Shell, Chevron, Exxon Mobil and others pocket billions of dollars in profits. Major global polluters must start to pay their fair share for the damage they’re causing,” WCEL Staff Lawyer Andrew Gage says in a statement to the Vancouver Sun. 

Carr, meanwhile, wrote in her motion to the council that it has been shown the cost of repairing damage perpetrated by climate change events such as polar vortexes and heat domes are “enormous,” according to the Vancouver Sun. 

Initially, Carr stated in her motion that the suggested funds would go directly to WCEL; however, the councillor later corrected herself and asserted that the monies would go to the City of Vancouver for its proposed class action lawsuit. 

In related news, environmental activists in British Columbia asked BC residents and local governments last month to back a proposed Big Oil class action lawsuit targeting oil companies over their alleged roles in exacerbating climate change.

Do you believe fossil fuel companies should pay for their alleged role in contributing to climate change? Let us know in the comments! 

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