Multi-level:
Compel the release of industry documents

Through measures laid out elsewhere in this roadmap, or via other means, decision-makers may obtain access to industry documents that evidence wrongdoing. Releasing this data is critical for people, civil society, the media, and officials alike to hold corporations accountable for their harms.

What does this look like?

  • Provide for and utilize the right to freedom of information and related legislation,[1][2] as well as access to information as per Principle 10 of the Rio Convention.[3]

  • Publicly disclose and release any data and documentation from polluting corporations that has been previously withheld from the public, making it possible to monitor and expose their wrongdoings.

  • Ensure that the concepts such as “trade secrets” and “intellectual property” do not justify means for corporations to withhold information that could document wrongdoing.

Click here to read about the lessons learned through the precedent of advancing tobacco industry liability through the Master Settlement Agreement.

 

 Implementing the measures of the liability roadmap

Decision-makers and movements at all levels should keep the following in mind when implementing the measures laid out in this roadmap:

  • Enacting these policies and measures is simply the first step to holding polluting and destructive industries liable: There will be much work for government officials, decision-makers, activists and civil society alike to do to ensure these measures are fully implemented and move us toward the transformative change the world needs.

  • Liability should be applied to all industries and corporations that make business decisions that contribute to climate change and its impacts, or that cause harm to people and nature. In addition to the fossil fuel industry, these industries include but are not limited to agribusiness, forestry, mining, and the energy sector. 

  • Many of these measures could equally apply to State-owned corporations. Because the national contexts and unique needs vary from country to country, it is worth considering where to apply and how to adapt the principles and measures listed in the liability roadmap to address State-owned polluting corporations. Factors to consider when doing so could include but are not limited to the degree of democratic control over the entity, role and use of funding from oil/gas revenues, and responsiveness of the entity to transition to regenerative, renewable energy sources. 

  • Measures implemented at the national level should support and reinforce, rather than contradict, measures implemented at the sub-national and local, and vice versa.

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 1 "Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) FAQ," National Whistleblower Center, accessed August 27, 2020, https://www.whistleblowers.org/faq/freedom-of-information-act-foia/.

2  "Access to Information Laws: Overview and Statutory Goals," Right2Info, last modified January 20, 2012, https://www.right2info.org/access-to-information-laws/access-to-information-laws#_ftnref7.

3  United Nations Environment Programme. "Principle 10," accessed August 28, 2020, https://www.unenvironment.org/civil-society-engagement/partnerships/principle-10.