More than 60 organisations from around the world are calling for a carbon levy on fossil fuel extraction to help pay for the climate change impacts on the most vulnerable countries.

The Carbon Levy Project declaration argues that fossil fuel companies are causing approximately 70 per cent of the climate change experienced today.

As a result, these companies should have to help mobilise funds to provide compensation for the damage, it says. This would be done through a tax on extraction (as opposed to emissions) the declaration explains.

Renowned climate scientist Naomi Oreskes, author Naomi Klein, 350.org’s Bill McKibben, and Greenpeace’s Kumi Naidoo, along with Ronny Jumeau, the Seychelles Ambassador to the UN, and Yeb Sano of the Philippines, have all signed the declaration following this month’s historic Paris Agreement.

On December 12, the world agreed to keep global warming to “well below 2°C” with the aim of trying to keep the global average temperature increase to just 1.5°C.

However, even these temperature goals will not stop some climate impacts already being felt by the most climate-vulnerable nations.

“Vulnerable communities on the frontline of climate change are already suffering worse droughts, more intense storms, and their homes are already being encroached upon by rising sea levels. They are already suffering loss and damage from climate change,” reads the declaration.

Not only are fossil fuel companies responsible for climate change, but many of them have, for years, supported campaigns denying climate science, in order to slow government action.

The most prominent example is ExxonMobil, which is currently being investigated in New York for its climate denial efforts.

“These big oil, coal and gas companies are continuing to reap millions in profit, while the poor are paying with their lives.  While the Paris Agreement sends a strong signal that fossil fuels must be kept in the ground, on the way to that goal, these companies should be paying for the damage they’ve already caused,” said Julie Anne Richards of the Climate Justice Programme, campaigning for a carbon Levy.

She added: “We support work by allies on legal strategies to bring the fossil fuel industry to account for the damage their product is causing. And it is crucial to ensure that fossil fuels are phased out and replaced by renewable energy by mid-century.”

Photo: Wikimedia commons

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Blackmail. Deception. Public manipulation.

These are just some of the charges leveled against ExxonMobil at a mock trial that took place in Paris, Saturday to coincide with the ongoing international climate negotiations at COP21.

The trial, held in Paris, alleged Exxon’s work at funding climate science had put the planet, people’s health and communities from Texas to Nigeria at risk.

The trial was hosted by Canadian author Naomi Klein and climate change activist and author Bill McKibben and brought together key witnesses to discuss Exxon’s role in confusing the public about the dangers of human-caused climate change.

Two investigations by the LA Times and Inside Climate News revealed Exxon scientists warned the company about the impacts of burning fossil fuels in the 1970s.

But the trial heard how scientists were directed to keep that information secret from shareholders and the public.

Since the 70s Exxon was involved in trade organizations, think tanks and lobbying organizations that have misled the public about greenhouse gases, climate change and climate science.

The trial, titled Exxon vs. The People, was presided over by three judges including indigenous rights and 350.org campaigner Clayton Thomas-Muller, actor Peter Sarsgaard and Milañ Loeak, daughter of Christopher Loeak, president of the Marshall Islands.

Cindy Baxter, a lead witness and curator of the website Exxon Secrets, took the stand to testify how Exxon funded organizations that have cast doubt on climate science, including the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow.

Both organizations are represented in Paris and aim to cast doubt on climate science and the ‘global warming hype’ at the COP21 climate negotiations.

Texas environmental justice advocate Bryan Parras, born in 1977, told the trial a subsidiary of Exxon caused severe impacts on human and environmental health in the state where his community lives.

“Did it surprise you that Exxon has been studying climate change for you entire life?” Klein asked.

Perras responded: “Did anyone expect that they didn’t know or wouldn’t hide it?”

“I honestly don’t trust anything these companies say. We should cast seeds of doubt on their campaigns and in their markets.”

Parras said Exxon’s deception made him angry, adding: “What else did they know and what else are they saying? What did they know about toxicity and cancers? Why did it take us so long to get that information?”

Author and fracking expert Sandra Steingraber, biologist and author of Living Downstream, also took the stand.

She said: “Exxon is the world’s largest public natural gas producer and it extracts oil and gas via fracking all over the world, particularly in the U.S. but also more recently in Argentina.”

Klein said: “We’ve talked a lot about local health impacts of fracking, but I also want to ask you about climate impacts of fracking since we are here at the same time as climate talks.”

Steingraber replied that natural gas was a “catastrophe” for the climate and that Exxon had also pushed the idea that gas was climate friendly.

Steingraber is a member of Center for Health Professionals in New York, a group of scientists, physicians, nurses providing watchdog evidence on the harms and risks of fracking since 2012.  She said a review of more than 500 studies found fracking was a risk to human health.

“The climate crisis is a parenting crisis which means it’s a human rights crisis,” Steingraber said.

“For Exxon to be involved in a misinformation about the science of climate is a strike against parenthood, against human knowledge and scientific progress.”

Ken Henshaw, activist with Social Action Nigeria, described the social and political impacts of Exxon’s activities in Nigeria.

“Africa is sometimes described as a continent suffering from the effects of climate change. Have you seen these effects?” McKibben asked Henshaw.

“In the Niger Delta where I lived in 2012 there was massive flooding. Houses were completely submerged. An entire planting season was lost,” Henshaw said.

McKibben asked: “Rex Tillerson, the CEO of Exxon, said if climate change happened to cause any inclement weather, we would find technological ways to adapt to that. Have people figured that out in Nigeria?”

“No,” Henshaw responded. “When the 2012 floods happened, the oil companies announced we should move to higher ground. What higher ground? To whose houses?”

Antonia Juhasz, journalist and energy analyst, testified to the quality of the reporting done around the revelations

“It wasn’t just that Exxon funded deniers outside government, it helped push policy inside government to change the course of policy inside so we would not have policies that addressed the climate crisis.”

In her closing argument, Klein addressed the trial’s judges.

“We aren’t asking you to put a price on that which is priceless. We have heard stories of life lost because of melting ice. We have heard stories of ancient cultures threat because of climate change. We have heard stories of Exxon’s discriminatory disregard of human life, well being and health.

“It is Exxon’s crime that it believes money trumps life,” Klein said.

“There is no price that can be placed on the Marshall Islands, on Arctic cultures, on our lives and what we pass on to our children. But we have a duty to seek justice.”

Judge Thomas-Muller said:“Given that as a court we lack ability to compel testimony of xon, we are unable to reach conclusion of guilt or innocence.”x

“We can ask that other courts in other jurisdictions that have the power to summon Exxon do so with haste.“

“We judge that this will represent one of and perhaps the biggest examples of corporate crime in history.”

Fellow judge Loeak said she knew the efforts of the world’s negotiators can be hampered by the denial and deception of the world’s major fossil fuel companies.

“Had Exxon merely stated 25 years ago what they knew —that climate change was real, perilous and required decision action — extraordinary damage could have been avoided.”

Actor Sarsgaard ended the trial on this note: “The burden of proof now rests squarely with this corporation that these documents don’t demonstrate what they seem prima facie to demonstrate: a profound disregard for this planet and its people."

The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for our free weekly dose of independent journalism.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands of people from across Canada and the US will walk into the heart of tar sands country to be part of a spiritual gathering called the Tar Sands Healing Walk on July 5th-6th.

They will come face-to-face with the environmental destruction caused by the tar sands industry. Open pit mines, tailings ponds, industrial facilities and more dominate the landscape of the walk near Fort McMurray, Alberta.

The fourteen-kilometre Healing Walk is neither a rally or a protest. Organizers describe the event as a spiritual gathering focused on healing the land, air, water and all living things harmed by the relentless expansion of the tar sands industry.

“Protests, rallies, marches are all good and necessary, but we felt like people needed something more spiritual. Something to create or strengthen a connection to the land,” says Jesse Cardinal, co-organizer of the Healing Walk.

As the international movement to stop the tar sands has grown, the Healing Walk has also grown since its birth four years ago. In its inaugural year the Healing Walk was a one-day event with one hundred participants. Hundreds and very possibly thousands will come to this year's two-day event that includes workshops, ceremonies, internationally-renowned guest speakers and the walk.

Organizers anticipate the 4th Tar Sands Healing Walk to be the largest event yet.

“First-time participants of the Healing Walk need to prepare themselves for an emotional journey,” Cardinal told DeSmog Canada.

This year's Healing Walk is attracting big name speakers such as 350.org founder Bill McKibben, author Naomi Klein, and co-founder of Idle No More Sylvia McAdam.

Invitations have been extended to Alberta premier Allison Redford and federal Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver to attend. Thus far neither have accepted the invitation.

“We want people to have an understanding of the scale and size of the tar sands industry, but we also want people to leave with a sense of hope for renewal,” says Cardinal.

Cardinal is also the coordinator of the Keepers of the Athabasca, an alliance of First Nations, Inuit, Metis, environmental groups and other concerned citizens advocating effective stewardship of the Athabasca River and Athabasca Lake Watershed. The Keepers of the Athabasca have been the main organizer of the Healing Walk from the beginning.

The Healing Walk will begin with a pipe ceremony at Crane Lake, north of Fort McMurray. First Nations elders and ceremony people will lead participants on the 14-kilometre journey through existing tar sands operations, and tailings ponds. The Athabasca River is less than ten kilometres from these industrial sites that spew toxins into its waters. Prayers for the land will be made along the way.

First Nations tar sands campaigner Clayton Thomas Muller in a recent article recalled being struck by scenes of vast deserts of wet and dry tailings ponds and industrial facilities that could have been straight out of a science fiction novel on his first Healing Walk.

A campsite is available for participants planning on staying over night and some catering will be provided by the organizers. Meet and greets as well as workshops on pipelines, First Nations cultures and tar sands impacts will take place the day before the Healing Walk. A feast and closing ceremony will conclude the event.

The Significance of the Fourth Healing Walk

Four is a significant number in many indigenous cultures. There are four seasons. Four directions. Four parts to life (mental, spiritual, emotional and physical).

“The fourth Healing Walk is significant because it indicates the ending of one cycle and the beginning of another,” explains Cardinal, who is Metis and a member of the Kikino Metis Settlement in northeastern Alberta.

Coincidentally, four organized cross-country treks will arrive in Fort McMurray to participate in the Healing Walk. Two groups are travelling from the US. A third group is coming from British Columbia.

The fourth and longest trek will be made by Dion Tootoosis who left traditional Mi'kmaq lands in Nova Scotia on June 12th and will bicycle over 5000 kilometres to reach Fort McMurray in time for the Healing Walk.

Tootoosis, from the Poundmaker Cree Nation of Saskatchewan, says he wants his journey to inspire conversations about natural resource extraction in Canada, particularly the tar sands, and stimulate discussions about solutions.

“I believe that the answer to the Alberta tar sands, and other locations across Canada where natural resources are being exploited, lies within the people of this country. Only a people know what is best for their community,” says Tootoosis in a statement.

Image Credit: Kris Krug via flickr

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