What is liability?
What is liability?
Liability, here, refers to using tools (legal, legislative, policy, cultural, etc.) to hold corporations and industries responsible for their roles in driving the climate crisis and undermining action to address it. When fully implemented in accordance with the principles laid out here, liability should advance justice, address inequality, help communities on the frontlines of the climate emergency access the resources they need and are owed, and deliver reparations owed to communities on the frontlines of climate change—particularly women, youth, peasants, and communities of colour including Black and Indigenous communities. Liability as envisaged in this roadmap is a necessary step to begin to repair the vast harm done, avoid future harm by ending abusive polluting practices, and help justly address the climate crisis. But liability (and particularly financial liability) does not make up for harms done not does it provide a license for such harms to continue.
The industries that have fuelled the climate crisis, funded climate denial, and blocked just climate progress for decades must pay for the damage they have caused and will cause. In other words, liability embraces the logical rationale of “if you break it, you buy it,” or “if you burn my house down, you should be the one paying for it.” Corporations are profiting from burning our common home. Holding these industries liable means ensuring that they are held responsible—criminally, civilly, financially, and otherwise—and that these practices which continue to drive these crises are brought to an end.
As this liability roadmap illustrates, meaningful actions that can help hold polluting industries liable are diverse and can be implemented by a variety of government, political, civil society, and cultural decision-makers locally to globally. Some examples of these decision-makers include but are certainly not limited to:
academics
activists
attorneys general
diplomats
environmental defenders
governors
heads of state
indigenous or tribal leaders
lawyers
mayors
members of Congress/Parliament
ombudspersons
policymakers
public advisors
representatives from frontline communities
social movements
U.N. Special Rapporteurs
representatives to regional human rights institutions
women and youth coalitions.
Contact us
This liability roadmap is meant to be a living document that will continue to be updated 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.
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.