SMOKE AND FUMES Contents 1 Executive Summary 2 Introduction 3 Part 1 The Legal Basis for Accountability: Fundamental Elements of Responsibility under Tort, Civil Liability, and Human Rights Law Climate Litigation: Causation, Attribution, and the Scientific Case Against Major Carbon Producers The Fundamental Elements of Responsibility: Notice of Risk and the Opportunity to Avoid or Reduce Risk Corporate Responsibility for Human Rights Violations Arising from Climate Change 7 Part 2 The Evidentiary Basis for Accountability: The Evidentiary Basis for Accountability Oil on Notice: Evidence of Early Industry Awareness of Climate Risks Documentary Evidence Demonstrates Oil Industry was on Notice of Potential Climate Risks by 1957 The Petroleum Industry Engaged in Coordinated Research and Communications on Air Pollution Issues from the 1940s Onward The Industry Undertook Coordinated Research into Many Subjects Relevant to the Causes and Impacts of Climate Change The Petroleum Industry was Unequivocally Warned of Climate Change Due Primarily to the Combustion of Fossil Fuels By 1968 From 1977 to 1982 Exxon Scientists Repeatedly Confirm the Science of Climate Change As Early as the 1970s and No Later than the 1980s, Climate Change Projections Were Being Used in Business and Operational Planning In the 1990s, Even as it Acknowledged Climate Realities Internally, the Oil Industry Intensified its Public Campaigns Against Climate Science The Oil Industry Continued to Fund and Promote Climate Misinformation and to Oppose Climate Mitigation Actions Throughout the 2000s into the Current Decade A Systemic Problem The Petroleum Industry Was Researching Technologies that Could Have Been Used to Mitigate or Avoid Climate Change Summary of Industry Knowledge of and Action on Climate Change Key Findings Beyond Exxon and Beyond the US: The Expanding Investigations into Climate Denial 26 Appendix I Investor-Owned Carbon Majors, Ranked by Cumulative Emissions Contribution 28 Appendix II A Note on Sources 29 Appendix III A Note on Industries and Companies Addressed in this Synthesis 31 Endnotes iii