Five-year-olds are taking Big Oil to court – and winning

Last week, Greta Thunberg stood outside her high school striking for climate for the 251st and final Friday, as the Swedish environmental activist prepared to graduate.

This week, a trial in Montana brought by 16 children, aged five to 22, began to decide whether the state violated its constitution, which guarantees a right to a clean and healthy environment.

The youth climate movement, long associated with protesting in the streets or throwing paint on precious artworks in museums, is moving into the courts. Politicians and fossil fuel leaders should be worried.

Litigation is by far America’s favourite pastime, but also one of its most effective tools for pushing change. From gun laws to abortion rights, the battlefields in the US have long been the courts. Now the climate movement is entering the fray.

In a packed courtroom in Montana state capital Helena, the plaintiffs lined up one by one over the week, offsetting the defence’s legalese and procedural manoeuvres with searing testimony about how recent flooding, wildfire smoke and extreme heat have impacted their young lives. The testimony brought out the day-to-day impact of global warming on the younger generation in a way that screaming, chanting and blocking traffic in major cities at rush hour never could.

More than 1,000 climate lawsuits have been filed worldwide since 2015, according to the American Bar Association; most of them in US courts. At least 15 cities and counties, including San Francisco, Baltimore and Honolulu, have filed lawsuits against Big Oil seeking damages for decades of pollution.

A major case against Shell in the UK led to changes on its board in 2021, while at least five states are suing Exxon to make changes in the US. Two years ago, a tiny hedge fund called Engine No 1 successfully campaigned to win three seats on Exxon’s board to help make it more climate-friendly.

The Montana case seizes on what anti-climate forces already know. The best way to force change is through a lawsuit. Red-state Republicans are passing laws right and left against environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices. And the Conservative Supreme Court last year issued a major ruling against the Environmental Protection Agency that threatens not only its power but those of almost every government agency. 

Climate activists are fighting fire with fire, and major polluters are taking note. A study in the UK last month found that the shares of companies subject to climate litigation fell on average almost half a per cent in the days after a suit was filed against them. The percentage was higher if they eventually lost.

The Montana suit would have wide repercussions if successful, as the plaintiffs filed similar suits in almost every US state. But in terms of convincing states to change their energy policies – especially oil- and gas-producing states – they are unlikely at this stage to carry much force. States can appeal and drag them on forever, all the way to the Supreme Court.

Still, the prospect of litigation carries much more attention-grabbing power in corporate boardrooms and statehouses than street protests and acts of vandalism ever could. 

The climate protest movement is growing up. We should expect more youth suits to be filed, in the US and worldwide, as the next generation comes of age and voices its displeasure.

Perhaps Greta will eventually go to law school herself.