Liability Roadmap
Polluters are fueling the climate crisis, while raking in vast profits.
Polluters should be held liable—and pay for the damages they knowingly cause.
This roadmap shows decision-makers and movements how to use a variety of tools—at the local, national, and global levels—to hold them liable.
What?
Polluting industries must be held liable for the damage they cause. Liability, here, refers to using tools (legal, legislative, policy, cultural, and otherwise) to hold corporations and industries responsible for their roles in driving the climate crisis and undermining action to address it. Learn more: What is liability?
Who?
Polluting industries like the fossil fuel, mining, and agribusiness industries have fuelled the climate crisis. They’ve reaped vast profits, all the while knowingly causing harm—and burdening communities around the world with the many social and economic costs of climate disaster. Learn more: Why liability?
How?
The roadmap contains guidance for decision-makers and movements at four levels of action: international, national, local, and multi-level. Under each, you’ll find a variety of approaches that you can harness depending upon the type of leadership you hold. Explore the roadmap below.
Explore the Liability Roadmap
The roadmap contains guidance for decision-makers at four levels of action: international, national, local, and multilevel. Under each, you’ll find a variety of approaches that you can harness depending upon the type of decision-making authority you hold. Explore each level below to see how you can take action to hold polluting industries liable.
— Click on each circle below to see each action level —
Advancing liability locally to globally relies on strengthening international legal instruments and institutions that already exist, drawing from best practices and precedents, and enshrining new, bold and visionary aspiration for what is needed to transform systems and advance justice.
Principles for advancing liability
Holding polluting industries like the fossil fuel industry liable can help deliver systemic change and end the abusive practices of polluting corporations—when done the right way.
Measures to advance liability must adhere to principles of equity and fairness, at the global level. See the full list of principles for implementation of liability.
Liability requires all of us
Everyone has a role to play in making polluting industries pay for the damage they cause.
Even if you don’t identify as a decisionmaker, you can get involved in the campaign to Make Big Polluters Pay, by visiting the civil society action center.
Case studies
Around the world, people, communities, organizations, and decision-makers are taking action to hold abusive corporations liable.
These case studies illustrate the power and lifesaving potential that liability can hold, highlight global precedents and share important lessons learned so far.
Partners
Contact us
This liability roadmap is meant to be a living document. We intend to update it as new opportunities, guidance, and case studies emerge.
Please reach out to info@liabilityroadmap.org if:
You would like to suggest an addition to the roadmap, such as a case study, a toolkit, or liability measure not currently reflected here.
You are a public decision-maker or social justice leader looking for support in advancing one or more of the liability measures laid out in this roadmap.
While we may not be the right people to assist with every request, we will do our best to provide additional resources and connect you to a convening organization that may be able to support you.