The Emerging Legal Ecosystem for Global Corporate Climate Accountability: Amplifying or Diluting Responsibility?

Abstract

Following the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) Advisory Opinion on the Obligations of States in Respect of Climate Change , not only have States’ obligations and responsibilities regarding climate change come into greater focus, but so too have those of private corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters. The ICJ opinion adds to an array of recent legal and regulatory developments that are shaping the accountability of corporate actors for climate actions and impacts. This article aims to provide a basis for critical analysis of the role of law and regulation in contributing to global corporate climate accountability, thus responding to a significant gap in the literature and practice. Underpinned by greater appreciation of carbon major companies’ role in driving climate change—and growing scientific evidence attributing specific impacts to their emissions—the article argues that a legal ‘ecosystem’ for global corporate climate accountability is emerging and seeks to map its core characteristics and inflection points. Developments across this ecosystem are taking place at and between the levels of international, domestic/regional and transnational law, including the ICJ’s advisory ruling, transnational climate cases, harmonised standard-setting processes and findings in domestic and regional corporate climate litigation. As interactions between these legal developments increase, the resulting ecosystem of applicable norms and implementation mechanisms is becoming denser. This article discusses hypothesised implications of these interactions across the global corporate climate accountability ecosystem, asking to what extent the ecosystem’s growing density may amplify corporate accountability for climate harms or, conversely, dilute companies’ accountability for the climate effects of their activities by fragmenting the legal response across a multitude of forums.