The Odette Case: Justice for climate victims
Image by Ivan Joeseff Gulwanon Green Christian
Victims of a deadly typhoon in the Philippines have filed a legal claim against oil and gas company Shell in the UK courts, seeking compensation for what they say is the company's role in making the storm more severe. Christian environmental organisations in the UK are supporting them.
Typhoon Odette was a devastating super typhoon that ripped through the Philippines in December 2021. This was a category 5 tropical cyclone with combined high winds in excess of 175 mph, extreme rainfall and a storm surge. It devastated the lives of eight million people across 514 towns and cities, brought down power cables and trees, broke up roads and fishing boats, disrupted communications and water supplies, destroyed or damaged 1.4 million homes and 2000 schools, destroyed crops and livelihoods. It also killed over 400 people.
Research has shown that climate change exacerbates the likelihood of an event like Odette. And climate change has been driven largely by the fossil fuel emissions of oil and gas companies such as Shell.
103 survivors of Typhoon Odette from several Philippine communities whose family members were killed or whose homes were destroyed are suing Shell. The first stage of this has been the issuing of a Letter Before Action (LBA) which has been sent to Shell notifying them that the claimants have suffered severe losses including damage to property, personal injury, bereavement, loss of earnings and loss of cultural rights. The claim alleges that Shell has contributed materially and knowingly to anthropogenic climate change and therefore contributed in no small way to the damage suffered by the claimants.
The claimants feel Filipinos have suffered enough from Shell's actions, its historic carbon emissions and its deceptions about climate change. They're demanding justice and compensation for the death and suffering that have resulted. That's what the Odette Case seeks to bring about. The claim is being brought in the UK as that is where Shell is domiciled but will apply the law of the Philippines as that is where the damaged occurred.
Records show that Shell has known about the link between fossil fuels and dangerous climate change for decades. The Philippines has emitted only 0.21% of all CO2 emissions since records began. Meanwhile, Shell has made hundreds of billions in profits while spreading misinformation about climate change and doubling down on fossil fuels.
The Odette Case campaign is coordinated by Greenpeace Philippines.
Christian groups supporting it in Britain include Green Christian and Operation Noah
LINKS
Odette Case: www.odettecase.org/
FB Odette Case: www.facebook.com/theodettecase/
Green Christian: https://greenchristian.org.uk/one-way-to-make-polluters-pay/
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