@ucsclimate
Climate & Accountability Campaigns at the Union of Concerned Scientists @ucs.org. Your place for rigorous, independent, intersectional climate science. #EnvironmentalJustice always.
It’s crucial for the IPCC and other scientific assessments to take steps to address these flawed estimates of sea level rise, especially in the Global South, so that policies to protect people are based on accurate measures of the risks.
Alarmingly, most of the inaccurate measurements from these studies were also used in IPCC assessment reports intended to inform governments and policymakers on coastal vulnerability.
Out of 385 peer-reviewed studies, only 1 correctly described and aligned coastal sea-level height information to land elevation data. 99% of studies did not use accurate local sea-level height information, made errors in sea-level datum conversion, or missed crucial data processing steps.
This community-wide gap in understanding means that as many as 100 million more people will be affected by sea-level rise over the next century than previous estimates. The number especially increases drastically for Global South regions, particularly Southeast Asia. (Figure 4 from the study)
According to the paper, "On average, global coastal sea level is about 0.3 m higher than commonly assumed ... whereas in Southeast Asia, the discrepancies are the largest, with measured sea level exceeding previous assumed levels by, on average, 0.9–1.1 m."
In a groundbreaking new study released in @Nature.com, Dutch scientists find that today’s sea level is much higher than assumed in most coastal hazard assessments, with the most significant errors in Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific regions.
A majority of the contributors to the federal judiciary's reference manual on scientific evidence accused court officials on Monday of letting partisan politics shape its latest edition by yielding to demands by Republican state attorneys general to cut a climate change chapter.
This fall, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear Exxon and Suncor’s arguments for why they should not stand trial in one of a growing number of lawsuits that seek to hold Big Oil companies accountable for their climate lies and make them pay for the resulting damages.
Here’s what you need to know. 👇
Big Oil's top lobbying group, the American Petroleum Institute, has reported talking to members of Congress about draft legislation to stop state climate lawsuits.
What a coincidence that Rep. Harriet Hageman happens to be drafting legislation to do exactly that. 🙄
The Supreme Court has decided to hear a major climate case against fossil fuel companies
Alito has not recused himself, despite owning nearly $200,000 in fossil fuel stocks—including in Phillips 66 and ConocoPhillips, which are being sued in cases that would be directly affected by a SCOTUS ruling
Please amplify and spread awareness of the devastating environmental, economic, and health impacts that people in the Niger Delta are facing because of irresponsibly managed and dangerous oil extraction activity. LEDEF is calling on international partners to help demand justice for those impacted.
A woman whose farm was destroyed told Arise News: “The oil has finished all my plants and all my farm has filled with oil... It’s because of this farm that I provide [my children’s] school fees, and food for them... I don’t know what to do.”
Executive Director Nbani Friday Barilule told us: "I think we need to change the process, and think of an alternative, speaking and advocating for renewable energy... Pollution is sickness.... No wonder the life expectancy of our people has reduced drastically to 41 years. The impact is very clear."
Our partners at Lekeh Development Foundation (LEDEF) in Nigeria report on a devastating oil spill that occurred in Ogoniland in the Niger Delta in late December. They are calling for the government to remediate land & compensate affected people, and for polluting industries to be held accountable.
2 years after we organized the largest-ever protests against Wall Street’s financing of fossil fuels, big banks’ financing of coal, oil, and gas is rising.
What does this mean? As our director laid out in @bloomberg.com, it means protests alone aren’t enough.
A 🧵:
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy are fighting to escape accountability for their climate lies and the damage that they've caused.
The U.S. Supreme Court announced today that it will hear the companies’ arguments for why they should not stand trial in one of a growing number of lawsuits against Big Oil.
For the first time, the U.S. Supreme Court has taken up Exxon’s plea to weigh in on whether climate accountability lawsuits are preempted by federal law, writes @emdashsanders.bsky.social.
This is "no coincidence," says @thelisagraves.bsky.social, since the court is "captured" by "carbon cash."
Statement from our colleague Dr. Carly Phillips: “The fossil fuel industry is desperately seeking to block the evidence of its decades of deceit from being heard in courtrooms across the country." #ClimateAccountability
Read more here ⬇️
www.ucs.org/about/news/s...
Today #SCOTUS agreed to hear arguments from Suncor Energy & ExxonMobil challenging local govts’ ability to seek relief for climate change damages in state courts. Justice Alito, despite conflicts of interest leading to his recusal from similar petitions, refused to recuse himself in this instance.
Laura Peterson's blog shows how the largest publicly-owned oil & gas companies are leveraging AI demand to attract investors and financing while locking in fossil fuel infrastructure at a crucial moment for arresting climate change’s most harmful effects. But it’s not too late to disrupt this trend:
“Big Oil’s climate lies are the most consequential and harmful corporate deception campaign in history, and the communities paying the price for that deception deserve to put these companies on trial.”
Our statement 👇
🚨 The U.S. Supreme Court has granted Exxon and Suncor’s request to review a Colorado Supreme Court ruling that allowed Boulder’s climate deception case against the companies to move toward trial.
Let's be clear: Communities paying the price for Big Oil's climate lies deserve their day in court.
Graphic promoting Stand Up for Science march on March 7.
Join UCS and scientists across the country as we take a stand for science again at the National Day of Action on March 7.
#StandUpForScience
📍Find locations near you:
👉 www.standupforscience.net/march7
"Unfortunately, climate change has become a reality, and its impacts will be felt over the coming decades in the form of, among other things, more frequent and intense extreme weather events. We must prepare for this future, by making smart, science-informed investments in our electric grid..."
Two big attacks on climate accountability lawsuits made the news last week -- and both were pushed by the Republican Attorneys General Association.
Connecting the dots to some of RAGA's biggest funders: the same major oil industry players facing those lawsuits.
www.exxonknews.org/p/the-top-co...
STARTING NOW: A 🇫🇷 court will hear a landmark case that could reshape corporate climate accountability in Europe & beyond.
The Court will confront a defining question of our time: Can #FossilFuel expansion survive the rule of law in a climate crisis?
Follow @duycks.bsky.social for live reporting!
A🧵
2/ ℹ️ Reminder: the case is brought against TotalEnergies by a coalition of NGOs & municipalities for breach of obligations under the French duty of vigilance law and the French civil responsibility regime.
This coalition includes @notreaffaireatous.bsky.social @asso-sherpa.bsky.social @fne.asso.fr
⚖️ 🌐 🛢️ #ClimateLitigation update: court hearings continue at Paris Judicial Court in landmark case against TotalEnergies.
The hearing continues, with focus on the review of Total's vigilance plan & of injunctions sought by NGOs & municipalities.
🧵 Live coverage in thread 👇
⚖️ Today starts a decisive hearing in our climate case against TotalEnergies.
Follow this hearing in live 👇
⚖️ Can courts order an oil major to cut fossil fuel production ?
After six years of legal proceedings, a decisive hearing will take place on 19 and 20 February 2026 before the Paris Judicial Court to compel TotalEnergies to reduce its fossil fuel production in line with climate objectives.
