Memorandum for the Petitioners | 53
sought to protect one of its assets from climate change in 1989.
It raised
a North Sea natural gas platform to guard it against sea level rise.?”
5.80. Many experts believe that these examples came at a crossroads
for the industry, where fossil fuel companies -- including respondents herein
-- had the opportunity to disclose the risks based on the recognized scientific
consensus.
There is ample evidence, however, that some of these companies
pivoted from conducting scientific research to denying growing scientific
consensus.
4.
In
blatant
internal
disregard
scientific
of
their
reports,
some
fossil fuel companies decided to
confuse the public on the causes
and dangers of climate change,
by citing “scientific uncertainty”
5.81. In 1988, respondent ExxonMobil’s spokesperson, Joseph M.
Carlson, wrote in a memo that the “Exxon position” is to “emphasize the
uncertainty in scientific conclusions regarding the potential enhanced
greenhouse effect.”?!°
5.82. Like respondent ExxonMobil, respondent Shell also started to
walk back from its corporate position that climate change posed severe risks,
and instead focused on scientific uncertainty. A 1994 internal Shell report
entitled,
“The
Enhanced
Greenhouse
Effect,’
substantially
outlined
skepticism surrounding the IPCC’s methodology, models, and scientific
views. ?!! The report also sets out the Shell Group’s position that “[s]cientific
uncertainty and the evolution of energy systems indicate that policies to curb
greenhouse gas emissions beyond ‘no regrets’ measures could be premature,
divert resources from more pressing needs and further distort markets.”?!?
D.5. Into
the
establishment
1990s,
following
of the IPCC
and
the
the
start
of
the
global
climate
negotiations, the fossil fuel industry
ran full blown
campaigns
that
manufactured
science,
doubt
concealed
about
the
climate
foreseeable
209 Lieberman, A and Rust, S. (31 December 2015), Big Oil Braced for Global Warming While it Fought
Regulations, available at http://graphics.latimes.com/oil-operations/ (last accessed on 12 September 2019).
210 Carlson, J. M. (03 August 1988), Exxon Memo on the Greenhouse Effect, p. 7, available at
http://www.climatefiles.com/exxonmobil/566/ (last accessed on 12 September 2019).
211 1994 Shell Report “The Enhanced Greenhouse Effect — A review of Scientific Aspects, p. 9-13, available
at http://www.climatefiles.com/shell/1994-shell-enhanced-greenhouse-effect-review-scientific-aspects/
(last accessed on 12 September 2019).
212 Id, p. 14.
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