Money Talks: Beyond seasonable doubt
Money Talks from The Economist
The Economist
4.4 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 21 September 2022
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Lawsuits aimed at green-house gas emissions are a growing trend, and better science is making them more precise. As ESG comes under attack, could these suits represent a different front in pressuring companies to act on climate change?
On this week’s episode, hosts Alice Fulwood and Mike Bird speak with our environment editor Catherine Brahic about the rise in climate litigation aimed at holding companies responsible for climate change. Then, we head to Peru, to meet the farmer at the centre of a potentially seismic court case against Germany’s largest electricity firm. Finally, Sophie Marjanac of the environmental organisation ClientEarth explains why the law can be a useful way to outline the responsibilities of corporations when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions and who pays the costs of a warming planet.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Money talks from the economist is sponsored by Invest Puerto Rico. |
| 0:06.0 | More than just a Caribbean paradise, Puerto Rico is a business powerhouse. |
| 0:11.0 | This U.S. territory is a fast-growing hub for innovators. |
| 0:15.0 | Puerto Rico boasts numerous tax credits, business incentives, |
| 0:19.0 | and world-class talent that take your business to the next level. |
| 0:23.0 | Find out why at InvestPR.org. |
| 0:26.0 | Gamechangers, welcome home. |
| 0:30.0 | Welcome to the next episode of the Eastern European Union. |
| 0:37.0 | Welcome to the next episode of the Eastern European Union. |
| 0:44.0 | It's October 2018, and in Poland, on a building site north of Warsaw, |
| 0:49.0 | a crowd of dignitaries and journalists gathered under a marquee. |
| 0:56.0 | They're marking the start of work on a new coal-fired power plant. |
| 1:01.0 | Australia was to be one of the most efficient and flexible coal power plants in Poland. |
| 1:07.0 | But the project quickly came into a grinding halt. |
| 1:12.0 | That's because two months before work on the Australia started, |
| 1:16.0 | an environmental organisation called ClientEarth paid 20 euros for 10 shares in a nail, |
| 1:22.0 | the Polish power company building the plant. |
| 1:26.0 | Hi, I'm Sophie Marginak, and I'm a lawyer with ClientEarth. |
| 1:30.0 | As shareholders, ClientEarth then filed a lawsuit against an air. |
| 1:34.0 | We argued that the plant would become a stranded asset |
| 1:37.0 | once electricity generation decarbonised, making it an indefensible financial risk. |
| 1:43.0 | In July 2019, a Polish judge ruled in their favour, construction was abandoned, |
... |
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