There is growing scientific evidence that the devastating floods that Pakistan experienced were largely the effect of glob- al warming caused by the burning of fossil fuels, mainly by in- dustrialised nations. Can we legally claim compensation for the huge devastation of properties and the crippling economic set back? Considering that about 20 million persons are affected, a claim of $2,500 per person means a liability arising of the order of $50 billion. A target for a lawsuit could be the oil companies that contribute to global warming through the oil that they pro- duce.
It is believed that higher sea-surface temperatures and large quantities of moist air above the Indian ocean were responsible for floods in Pakistan (as well as the heat wave in Russia), and it is now possible to estimate the extent of this contribution using modern computing and analysis techniques.
Precedence exists for such legal action. The victims of hurricane Katrina filed a lawsuit in 2005 against a group of oil companies, in which it was claimed that the oil companies contributed to the environmental conditions that led to strengthening of Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico. The case was dismissed in 2007 but then the decision was reversed on November 18, 2009 by Judge Stanwood Duval and compensation was awarded for $700,000 to four persons who had filed the lawsuit.
This paved the way for billions of dollars of lawsuits from other Katrina victims. In June this year, the Court of Appeals again dismissed the case because of insufficient judges needed for a quorum. So the fight goes on. The UN has potentially hundreds of billions of dollars available in a fund for assisting developing countries adapt to climate change. Pakistan can claim support from this fund.
Can developing countries such as Pakistan that have been devastated by floods have the tenacity and lobbying power to fight out a legal case against oil companies or claim compensation from the UN? To win a lawsuit, science must provide a convincing answer to the extent that global warming contributed to the floods in Pakistan.
In a meeting held in Colorado recently, organised by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and UK Met Office’s Hadley Centre, the view was that it may now be scientifically possible to assign if a certain weather event (such as the flooding in Pakistan) was due climate changes triggered by global warming. The work of Allen Myles at the University of Oxford indicates that the science of climatology has evolved enough to make it possible. If that is so, then a lawsuit for compensation against damages can be filed.
It is believed that higher sea-surface temperatures and large quantities of moist air above the Indian ocean were responsible for floods in Pakistan (as well as the heat wave in Russia), and it is now possible to estimate the extent of this contribution using modern computing and analysis techniques.
Precedence exists for such legal action. The victims of hurricane Katrina filed a lawsuit in 2005 against a group of oil companies, in which it was claimed that the oil companies contributed to the environmental conditions that led to strengthening of Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico. The case was dismissed in 2007 but then the decision was reversed on November 18, 2009 by Judge Stanwood Duval and compensation was awarded for $700,000 to four persons who had filed the lawsuit.
This paved the way for billions of dollars of lawsuits from other Katrina victims. In June this year, the Court of Appeals again dismissed the case because of insufficient judges needed for a quorum. So the fight goes on. The UN has potentially hundreds of billions of dollars available in a fund for assisting developing countries adapt to climate change. Pakistan can claim support from this fund.
Can developing countries such as Pakistan that have been devastated by floods have the tenacity and lobbying power to fight out a legal case against oil companies or claim compensation from the UN? To win a lawsuit, science must provide a convincing answer to the extent that global warming contributed to the floods in Pakistan.
In a meeting held in Colorado recently, organised by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and UK Met Office’s Hadley Centre, the view was that it may now be scientifically possible to assign if a certain weather event (such as the flooding in Pakistan) was due climate changes triggered by global warming. The work of Allen Myles at the University of Oxford indicates that the science of climatology has evolved enough to make it possible. If that is so, then a lawsuit for compensation against damages can be filed.