6 they have historically externalized, climate litigation can ensure that the companies’ business decisions and corporate strategies take those costs into account. In so doing, it can help accelerate the transition to cleaner sources of energy. Climate investigations and litigation are also vital to developing a fuller, more informed public understanding of the causes of the climate crisis. This awareness will enable the public to make fully informed social and political decisions. While work by CIEL and others has revealed a great deal about what these companies knew about climate change, when they knew it, and what they did with that information, much of this history lies hidden in corporate records and will remain so until official inquiries and judicial processes force its disclosure. Ensuring both that the facts are found and that compensation is paid to those affected accords with the Polluter Pays principle and contributes to more democratic processes for countries determining how best to respond to the climate crisis. Finally, and fundamentally, by investigating the conduct of the Carbon Majors and other corporate actors in the context of climate change, and holding them accountable where malfeasance is found, climate litigation can set an example for those companies and for others that follow. It may demonstrate that the costs of deceiving consumers, investors and the public ultimately outweigh the benefits. In so doing, it may reduce the risk of the next, still hidden, environmental crisis. Q12: Could you please explain what are the “links in the chain of climate litigation,” as described in your 23 May 2018 presentation? A12: While the specific requirements of litigation depend upon the jurisdiction, venue and underlying laws, the core links in the climate litigation chain are the same as those for any litigation arising from a non-contractual harm. Climate litigation requires an identifiable plaintiff or group or class of plaintiffs. This may be an individual already harmed by climate change or at increased risk of future harm; it may be an entire community; a vulnerable population; or, as evidenced by recent cases in the United States, a government. The harms suffered by the plaintiffs must be discrete and particularized. The harms must be fairly traceable to the actions of an identifiable defendant or group of defendants. And those defendants must either have violated a relevant standard of care or be subject to strict liability. Q13: How do advances in science make it easier to identify climate impacts and those being harmed? A13: In recent years, we have seen significant advances in the science of climate attribution that allow climate impacts to be identified and quantified at ever greater levels of precision. These advances in climate science are helping identify climate-related harms and plaintiffs in at least four distinct ways. Improvements in satellite data and geospatial mapping are making it possible to identify gradual, slow-onset climate impacts with ever greater precision. This equips more individuals and communities to understand (and prove)