Louis Century and Geetha Philipupillai author report on climate cost recovery for Greenpeace Canada
Greenpeace Canada has released a new report making the case for a Climate Cost Recovery Act in British Columbia. The report, How to Make Polluters Pay: Legislating a Climate Recovery Fund for British Columbia, was co-authored by Louis Century and Geetha Philipupillai on behalf of Greenpeace Canada.
As climate-related harms materialize in our communities through record wildfires, drought, flooding, and extreme temperatures, our governments are on the hook for billions of dollars in climate adaptation costs and infrastructure repairs. Yet the polluters most responsible for causing climate change, who have profited richly from it, have not been held to account for the true costs of their harmful actions.
In jurisdictions around the world, governments are now taking action to make polluters pay. Following in the footsteps of cost recovery legislation for tobacco and opioid related harms, a new wave of legislation seeks to hold the largest fossil fuel emitters financially responsible for the climate-related harms they have caused. Vermont and New York are the first US states to have enacted climate cost recovery legislation.
This report makes the case for a Climate Cost Recovery Act in BC. The report begins by describing the immense financial burden of climate disasters in BC, why fossil fuel companies should bear financial responsibility, and why BC is well-positioned to bring climate cost recovery legislation to Canada. Next, it summarizes the basic tenets of climate cost recovery legislation, drawing on the Vermont and New York laws. Finally, the report addresses the legal viability of similar legislation in Canada.
For decades the world’s largest fossil fuel companies have enjoyed extraordinary profits in full knowledge that their actions were devastating our planet and communities. Citizens and taxpayers are now left to foot the bill to the tune of billions of dollars in climate adaptation and repair costs. This report argues that legislators in Canada should embrace climate cost recovery legislation as a way to “make polluters pay” while also funding desperately needed climate adaptation and repair projects. As the report argues: The cost of inaction is too great.
Louis and Geetha wish to thank their Goldblatt Partners LLP colleagues Ethan Poskanzer, Nina Patti, Umaiyahl Nageswaran & Areeg Bhalli for their contribution to research, and Greenpeace Canada for the opportunity to contribute to this important work.