Joint letter to Premier Horgan on a Liability for Climate-related Harms Act

West Coast Environmental Law is one of more than 50 groups sending this letter to Premier John Horgan asking the BC government to enact a Liability for Climate-related Harms Act. This legislation, modeled on a BC law that defined the legal rules for suing Big Tobacco for BC Healthcare costs, would clarify the legal rules for people harmed by climate change to sue fossil fuel companies for a fair share of climate costs. Enacting such legislation will protect BC communities while sending a financial signal to fossil fuel companies and their investors.

This letter was accompanied by two enclosures:

• A copy of Bill 21, the Liability for Climate-related Harms Act, debated by the Ontario Legislature in April 2018; and
• A copy of Taking Climate Justice into our Own Hands, a 2015 report of West Coast Environmental Law that proposed language for similar legislation (terms a Climate Compensation Act in the report).