Corporate Environmental Negligence Tracker

You spoke, we listened. Introducing our new environmental tracker, focusing on corporate negligence.

Take Action On Corporate Environmental Negligence 

Causes.com is your source for up-to-date information about corporate negligence and efforts to protect the Earth and hold major polluters and environmental destructors responsible.

We'll provide the latest info on legal battles, corporate lies and denial, and battles to keep our environment safe and climate change under control. Take Action Now: Tell your reps if you support or oppose holding corporations responsible.

Access the latest information on corporate negligence in America here...

Six Young People Taking 32 Nations to Court Over Climate Inaction

September 22, 2023

• In the world's largest climate legal action to date, six young people will appear at the European Court of Human Rights to try to force 32 nations to escalate their emissions and take meaningful action on climate change.
• The six claimants are all from Portugal and between the ages of 11 and 24. They were inspired to act due to their experiences with catastrophic wildfires that hit the Leiria region in 2017.
• The claimants began their action six years ago, and have raised over $100,000 in worldwide donations. 
• The countries named in the action are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.

The Environmental Impacts of Electronic Waste

July 27, 2023

• Every day, thousands of tons of electronic waste — much of it still in working condition — is disposed of globally, leading to a raft of adverse environmental outcomes.
• Tech companies produce a staggering amount of goods: in 2021, 1.43 billion smartphones, 548 million pairs of headphones, 341 million computers, and 210 million TVs were sold globally. When these items reach the end of their life cycle, they typically end up in a landfill or incinerator.
• It is estimated that e-waste generation will increase to 74.7 million tons by 2030 at current consumption levels.
• The 2002 documentary "Exporting Harm" detailed the environmental impact of e-waste on rural China. Many of the children in the village featured in the film had lead poisoning from the heavy metals in the e-waste.
• Individuals who work or live near e-waste dumps are exposed to toxic lead, mercury, nickel, and brominated flame retardants
• Before being torn down, Agbogbloshie, a slum in Accra, Ghana, was considered the world's largest e-waste dump, and eggs produced nearby were found to have 220 times the safe daily intake of dioxins. 

Are you concerned about e-waste?

The Human, Environmental, and Economic Costs of Big Chocolate

July 26, 2023

• An Oxfam report found that chocolate corporations' sustainability programs are failing to deliver on promises to protect the environment and pay farmers a living wage.  
• The world's four largest public chocolate corporations — Hershey, Lindt, Mondelēz, and Nestlé — made nearly $15 billion in profits from their confectionary divisions, up 16% since 2020.
• Oxfam surveyed over 400 Ghanaian cocoa farmers who supply the big name brands and found that during that same time period, their incomes fell by an average of 16%. Women's incomes fell by 22%.
• It is estimated that 70% of the illegal deforestation in the Ivory Coast is due to cocoa farming. Less than 4% of the country remains covered in rainforest.
• An investigation by Mighty Earth found that some of the biggest names in chocolate knowingly purchase cocoa grown in illegally deforested national parks in West Africa. 
• In the Ivory Coast, only 100-400 elephants remain from a previous population numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

Will you think twice about dessert?

California Lawmakers To Hold Corporate Polluters Accountable?

July 21, 2023

• California lawmakers are considering a bill that would force corporations in the state to disclose the greenhouse gas emissions created throughout their entire supply chains. The bill passed the Senate on May 30.
• California has the fifth largest economy in the world and is leading the charge on a national level with sweeping climate change proposals.
• California has recently faced the devastating impacts of climate change in the form of droughts and wildfires.
• The Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act would require companies operating in California that generate more than $1 billion annually to report emissions across their entire supply chain. The bill would legally impose robust reporting requirements on companies with no legal obligation to disclose their emissions or those of their suppliers.

Should more states do the same?

Amid Record Temperatures, Big Oil Abandons Climate Pledges

July 19, 2023

• Despite major oil corporations' commitments to cut oil production, they have quietly abandoned their pledges to prioritize shareholders. 
• Previously, oil companies relied on misleading marketing schemes, claiming to have commonsense solutions to climate change. Now, as they see record profits — largely due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine — they are ignoring the pledges they've made to the environment to keep those profits rising.
• Despite the tangible evidence that the Earth is heating up, oil companies insist that there is no alternative to fossil fuels. Days after the hottest day on record, TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne said his company would continue to invest heavily in fossil fuels.
• For example, BP is expanding gas drilling projects and lowering emissions cuts, ExxonMobil is doubling their oil production and withdrawing from low-carbon fuel alternative research, and so on.

How do you feel about Big Oil's broken promises?

Shell Abandons Oil Cuts, Seeking Higher Profits

June 20, 2023

• Despite Shell's earlier commitment to oil production cuts, the company decided to prioritize shareholder profits, keeping oil production steady until 2030. 
• In 2021, Shell committed to gradually reducing oil production by 1-2% each year, making modest fossil fuel divestments, and increasing gas production and exports.
• Shell claimed that it had already met its reduction goals, providing the example of its 2021 drop in output when production went from 1.9 million barrels a day to 1.5 million barrels a day after the sale of its holdings in the oil-rich Permian Basin, Texas. 

How do you feel about Shell's broken promise? 

800 Million Amazon Trees Cut Down Due to Global Beef Demand

June 6, 2023

• Over 800 million trees in the Amazon rainforest were cut down in just six years to satisfy global demand for Brazilian beef, a Guardian investigation found.
• Despite the Brazilian beef industry pledging to avoid farms linked to deforestation, data indicates that approximately 4.2 million acres of Amazon rainforest were destroyed near global meat plants.
• Brazil is now the top global beef exporter, but rising demand for affordable meat has been linked to significant deforestation in the past five years.
• Cattle ranching accounts for 80% of current deforestation throughout the Amazon.

Should we ban food imports associated with deforestation?

States Sue Companies Over 'Forever Chemical' Contamination

June 6, 2023

• A growing list of states, including Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, and Vermont, are suing chemical companies DuPont, Chemours, and Corteva for PFAS ("forever chemical") contamination in drinking water, which impacts approximately 64 million Americans.
• The companies announced that they would pay over $1 billion to settle the claims, despite DuPont denying it has ever produced PFAS.
• Maine's attorney general, Aaron Frey, said:

"We're alleging that 3M and DuPont [and other manufacturers] created these chemicals ... had the science that showed just how dangerous they were, how toxic they were, how they were going to last forever."

• Some states have successfully reached settlements with the chemical giants. Minnesota settled with 3M for $850 million, and Delaware settled with DuPont for $50 million.

Do you think the government is doing enough to address toxic chemicals?

Big Oil Owes $209 Billion for Climate Reparations Annually

May 30, 2023

• A study from One Earth found that fossil fuel companies worldwide owe a minimum of $209 billion in climate reparations to compensate the communities affected by their operations.
• BP, Shell, ExxonMobil, Total, and Chevron were among the 21 largest polluters, accountable for an estimated $5.4 trillion in climate-related disasters such as droughts, wildfires, sea level rise, and melting glaciers between 2025 and 2050.
• The study attributes one-third of future climate costs to the global fossil fuel industry.
• An evidence-based "polluter pays" price tag is seen as a crucial move towards climate justice for communities and countries that have contributed less but are disproportionately affected by climate change.

Should carbon corporations compensate victims of the climate crisis?

Google Continues to Profit From Climate Denial

May 2, 2023

• In Oct. 2021, Google promised to stop inserting its advertisements alongside content that denied climate change. However, new research found that the company never followed the pledge and continues to attach its ads to climate denial material on major platforms, including YouTube. 
• Activists are condemning Google for promoting dangerous misinformation it claims to be fighting against, criticizing the tech giant for prioritizing its own profits over public safety and environmental health.
• The spreading of false information can be dangerous to the world, primarily around high-risk issues like public health crises, elections, and world events. 

Do you think that Google is allowing misinformation on climate change to spread? 

Researchers Call For Charging Big Oil With Homicide

March 27, 2023

• A new paper published in the Harvard Environmental Law Review calls for holding big oil companies accountable for homicide. 
• The authors argue that the companies “have not simply been lying to the public, they have been killing members of the public at an accelerating rate, and prosecutors should bring that crime to the public’s attention.” The paper is rooted in the growing conversation that fossil fuel companies have known about the harm they have been causing for decades. 
• The report lays out the case for multiple types of homicide charges, which range from manslaughter to murder. David Arkush, one of the paper’s leading contributors, said the companies come “extremely close” to meeting the definition of murder because of their awareness of the harm. 

Do you think major oil companies should be charged with homicide?

Shell’s Board of Directors Personally Sued Over Response to Climate Change

February 10, 2023

• The individuals on Shell’s board of directors are being sued for failing to respond to the climate crisis promptly and responsibly.
• This is the first case to hold corporate leaders personally accountable for their inadequate actions to prepare their company for a green transition despite their awareness of the climate emergency.
• The lawsuit states that the 11 directors of the oil giant have breached their legal duties under the U.K.’s Companies Act by not aligning their climate strategy with the Paris Agreement. 
• Shell recently reached a record annual profit of $40 billion — over double the earnings from 2021 — mainly due to the high energy prices from the Russia-Ukraine war. The lawsuit argues that these funds should be going toward green energy projects. 

Should we hold the directors of oil giants personally responsible for climate change?