Energy & Sustainability Litigation Updates — January 2023

Litigation & Regulatory Update

Climate Change Litigation: Beginning in 2017, an array of state and local governments began pursuing claims against major fossil fuel producers — particularly the major oil companies (Chevron, Exxon, BP, Shell, and ConocoPhillips) — alleging common law claims of nuisance based upon the contributions of these companies to the impact of climate change. In late November 2022, a climate change tort lawsuit was brought by a number of municipalities in Puerto Rico, which — for the first time — brought civil RICO claims against major fossil fuel companies in connection with their alleged responsibility for climate change. Specifically, the lawsuit focused on the role of a trade association as constituting the "enterprise" through which the alleged RICO conduct occurred. Aside from this development, there have been relatively few substantive events in the various pending climate change tort litigations over the past few months, with