Corporate Liability for Climate Change Adaptation Costs: A Market Share/Several Liability Approach

Abstract

Allocating financial responsibility for climate change costs to major energy companies could happen in many fora – at the federal, state or international level, via legislation, treaties or adjudication. This Article explores the allocation in the context of state law climate adaptation cost suits in the United States, and  argues that a market share/several approach is tenable, although it raised complicated questions, most notably those surrounding wrongfulness. Of course, it is possible that legal institutions of all sorts ultimately will choose to focus solely on financial responsibility for harms associated with current or future emissions, or ignore corporate responsibility altogether.  However, the airing of the issues discussed in this Article about harms from past emissions could also inform debates over responsibility for harms associated with current and future emissions.

Keywords: Climate Change, Adaptation, Market Share, Liability, environmental law, environmental law and policy, climate

JEL Classification: K10, K13, K32