Shell Sued In UK Over 2021 Philippines Typhoon

Survivors of a deadly 2021 typhoon in the Philippines have filed a UK lawsuit against British oil giant Shell, seeking financial compensation for climate-related devastation, three NGOs supporting claimants announced Thursday.

Typhoon Rai struck the southern and central regions of the Philippines in mid-December 2021, toppling power lines and trees and unleashing deadly floods that killed more than 400 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless.

The lawsuit, brought by British law firm Hausfeld on behalf of 103 survivors, argues that Shell’s carbon emissions contributed to climate change, impacting Philippine communities.

Scientists have long warned that typhoons are strengthening more rapidly as the world becomes warmer because of human-driven climate change.

In a joint statement, the NGOs — including Greenpeace — said the lawsuit represents “a decisive step to hold oil giant Shell accountable for the deaths, injuries and destruction left by the climate-fuelled storm”.

The case marks the latest step in a wider international movement to assign responsibility to major companies for climate damage, especially in the Global South.

A German court in May ruled that firms could, in principle, be held responsible for harm caused by their emissions, fuelling hopes that other countries would follow suit.

A Shell spokesperson said of the UK lawsuit: “This is a baseless claim, and it will not help tackle climate change or reduce emissions.

“The suggestion that Shell had unique knowledge about climate change is simply not true.”

The claim has already been listed on the website run by the High Court in London.

The claimants are seeking financial compensation for “lives lost, injuries sustained and home destroyed”, the NGOs said in a statement, signed also by the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice and the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center.

The group added that the case represents “a vital contribution to the growing global push to challenge the impunity of fossil fuel companies”.

Shell, along with many rival energy giants, has scaled back various climate objectives to focus more on oil and gas in order to raise profits.

One claimant, Trixy Elle, a fisherman’s wife whose family home and four boats were swept away in Typhoon Rai’s powerful storm surge, said they were still paying off high-interest loans needed for rebuilds.

“Island residents like us contribute only a small percentage of pollution. But who gets the short stick? The poor like us,” the 34-year-old told AFP in an interview.

“I am not speaking only for my community but for all Filipinos who experience the effects of climate crises,” Elle said, adding her now 13-year-old son still suffers from trauma caused by the storm.

The United Nations in 2022 said destruction caused by Typhoon Rai was “badly underestimated” in initial assessments, tripling the number of people “seriously affected” to nine million.

The Philippines — ranked among the most vulnerable nations to the impact of climate change — is hit by an average of 20 storms every year.

The UK lawsuit follows a historic climate ruling by the International Court of Justice in The Hague in July, which declared states had an obligation under international law to address the threat of climate change.

ICJ advisory opinions are not legally enforceable but are seen as highly authoritative in steering national courts, legislation, and corporate behaviour around the globe.

AFP