Burnaby, British Columbia has become the biggest city in the province to pledge $1 per resident for a class action lawsuit to hold fossil fuel companies responsible for climate change impacts.
But the May 13 council decision comes with strings attached, Burnaby Now reports. It’s “contingent upon other B.C. municipalities joining the campaign and raising a combined minimum of C$500,000, and Burnaby will only commit if at least one other local government with a population of 150,000 or more also joins.”
A staff report presented to council said any money Burnaby receives via a settlement or court order would be used to mitigate local damages due to climate change, the news story states.
When West Coast Environmental Law launched its Sue Big Oil campaign in June, 2022, staff lawyer Andrew Gage said the case would focus on climate change as a global crisis and international fossil fuel companies’ liability for their share of the impacts that B.C. communities are now scrambling to address, with taxpayers footing the bill. B.C. law allows local governments to share the cost of a class action and protects them from covering their opponents’ legal costs if they lose.
“We live in a world where the fossil fuel industry is hugely profitable because they’re not paying their fair share of the costs,” Gage told The Energy Mix in a feature interview leading up to the launch. “They are causing billions of dollars of impacts to communities around the world—the Insurance Bureau of Canada says local governments should be spending C$5.3 billion per year just to adapt to climate change.”
But now, “we are going to sue Big Oil,” session moderator Avi Lewis told a webinar audience of about 165 participants. “This is an historic moment, and you are going to be able to tell everyone you were here when it began.”
In the two years since the launch, five smaller centres in B.C.—Squamish, Slocan, Gibsons, Qualicum Beach, and View Royal—have signed on to the lawsuit, Burnaby Now says. Vancouver joined in July, 2022, just a month after the launch, but withdrew its support in March, 2023, after local elections shifted the balance on council.
Before the 8-1 vote in Burnaby last week, Councillor Daniel Tetrault said climate change could cost the community millions of dollars over time. “This is something our future generations will face,” he said.
Burnaby Now says Tetrault read out a letter he’d received from a nine-year-old constituent, identified only as Penny. “My class was way too hot in June, and I can barely have any birthday parties because it’s in June,” she wrote. “Pollution is causing climate change and extreme weather. It’s not fair that we need to pay for their mess and damage. Sue Big Oil.”
Councillor Richard Lee countered that he could not in good conscience sue Big Oil when people still use fossil fuels every day. “It’s important to keep our economy going,” he said.
Kate McMahon, team lead for Burnaby For Our Kids, said she was excited to see her home community, population 249,125 as of the 2021 census, join the campaign.
“I think it’s very prudent; it makes sense,” McMahon said. “Even if we were to stop fossil fuels tomorrow, things are going to get worse before it gets better, and for our kids, we need to know that the city has the wherewithal to adapt and to protect and keep the community safe and healthy.”
