Italian Citizens Sue Oil Supermajor To Compel Accelerated Emissions Reductions

On May 9, 2023, Greenpeace, fellow climate change activist group ReCommon and 12 Italian citizens from regions affected by impacts of climate change announced their intention to file a first-of-its-kind lawsuit in Italy against the country's largest energy company. The plaintiffs claim that ENI has known about the detrimental effects of fossil fuel burning since 1970 but through "lobbying and greenwashing" continued to encourage extraction, thereby contributing to climate change. The allegations levied against ENI are, in part, concerned with a study the company carried out between 1969 and 1970, which found that rising fossil fuel use could lead to a climate crisis within decades. In its statement, Greenpeace Italy further claimed that ENI's current decarbonization strategy and policies are inconsistent with the Paris Agreement. The lawsuit also names two of the company's largest shareholders, Italy's Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) and Cassa Depositi e