18th November 2024
One of the slogans of climate activism is ‘Make the Polluters Pay’ which feels very right and grounded in what is just – a sort of global scale ‘Rylands and Fletcher’ case: if A uses the land and in so doing damages land belonging to B, then A must pay damages to B. So if Shell’s extracting of oil pollutes the adjoining land, Shell should pay the appropriate sum in damages.
Burning fossil fuels pollutes the atmosphere, increasing levels of carbon dioxide, fuelling climate change and triggering damaging adverse weather events such as floods, droughts, wildfires etc. logically the polluters – those burning the fossil fuels – should pay up. But fossil fuels have been burnt by so many different people – individuals heating their homes, small metal workshops, whole industries, transport systems etc -and over a considerable period of time. The United Kingdom has produced a cumulative total of 79,777,710,000 tonnes of CO2 since 1750. When we then call on the Government to ensure payment of a fair share in climate finance to vulnerable countries in the global south, that payment needs to reflect the scope of the damage our nation has caused.
The Green Tau 