Talk:Climate change litigation

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 23 September 2021 and 3 December 2021. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Bbcook808. Peer reviewers: EKingery.

Italian lawsuits

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 16:34, 18 January 2022 (UTC)

Hello everyone! I just wanted to ask for a feedback on the paragraph I recently added to the article, in which I described two recent and notable lawsuits filed in Italy.

I think I've done my best in trying to collect essential information from the sources I retrieved, although the language barrier and pay-wall articles might be a problem while double-checking the first case...

Also, only after I finished the job, I realized that the sub-paragraph about the Eni lawsuit likely drags on for too long: should I work on a separate article, instead, and then do a sum-up on this page?

Oltrepier (talk) 12:10, 5 July 2023 (UTC)

@William M. Connolley Hello, I'm tagging you here so we can keep the discussion thread in one piece!

Thank you for explaining your reverse-edit of the details I added about that lawsuit. I forgot The Guardian reported that "the groups intended to file the suit in the civil court of Rome by 19 May", so yes, I should have definitely been more clear. Another reliable source I've managed to retrieve reported that the plaintiffs "initiated legal proceedings against" Eni and its co-holders (hanno citato Eni in giudizio), but it doesn't mean they already filed the suit, does it?

The thing is, both The Guardian and la Repubblica reported that the initial hearings might take place in November, but considering the suit had not been officially filed yet, that sounds confusing to me...

Still, thank you for pointing it out! Oltrepier (talk) 14:36, 5 July 2023 (UTC)

My concern is that a number of such lawsuits are (IMHO) frivolous and filed for the publicitly that they generate more than any hope of obtaining a meaningful result. So I think that Wiki ought to winnow these a little, and at-least-bothered-to-file is some kind of bar to notability William M. Connolley (talk) 11:44, 6 July 2023 (UTC)

@William M. Connolley To be honest, I wanted to include those lawsuits mainly because they were the very first examples of climate litigation in Italy, but yes, I understand what you said.

About the Eni lawsuit, given that the plaintiffs sued one of the most influential and important companies in the country, and they organized an extensive investigation in order to elaborate their accusations, I'd think they're quite serious about it. The problem is, I just can't find any updates on the suit's status, so I'm stuck at the moment... Oltrepier (talk) 07:34, 7 July 2023 (UTC)

And Oltrepier, added content must be as concise (brief) as appropriate. Long passages of text give more prominence to a subject, which is improper for subjects that are less notable in real life. A good guideline is to look at similar entries in the same article, and conform to standards that have evolved. —RCraig09 (talk) 12:40, 6 July 2023 (UTC)

@RCraig09 You're right, sorry about it... These are my first contributions to the subject (I usually cover much lighter topics), and I'm still learning the various aspects of the editing process, so I appreciate any kind of advice. Oltrepier (talk) 07:37, 7 July 2023 (UTC)

@William M. Connolley and RCraig09: Hello! Just so you know, I've decided to re-submit the paragraph about the Eni lawsuit: the first hearing took place on February 16, so the court case is officially open now. I understand many of those bits of information would be more suitable for a separate article about the lawsuit, but still, I'm looking forward to your feedback! Oltrepier (talk) 11:39, 22 February 2024 (UTC)

@Oltrepier I recommend moving this content to "Climate change in Italy" or seperate articles for the cases -- if you think they are going to reach international press in terms of prominence, I would create a new article for the specific case. A shorter summary for each of the cases (less than one paragraph) and a link would be better for this level of survey article, Sadads (talk) 11:42, 22 February 2024 (UTC)

@Sadads Good point! To be fair, the original announcement of the lawsuit already gained some kind of international attention, having been reported on by The Guardian and DeSmog. Still, the court case has officially started just last week, and it will likely take months, or even years, to even get to the first verdict...

In the meantime, I agree that creating a new specific page would be a nice solution: the problem is, despite being very interested in climate change-related topics, I've got very little experience with these types of articles. Maybe starting a sandbox draft and then letting you all collaborate would be the right thing to do, wouldn't it? Oltrepier (talk) 12:54, 22 February 2024 (UTC)

@Oltrepier if you start something in a sandbox i am sure one og us could review, Sadads (talk) 13:05, 22 February 2024 (UTC)

@Sadads Right, thank you! I don't know how much time I'll have in the next few weeks, but I'll try to lay down the basic structure, at the very least. Oltrepier (talk) 13:16, 22 February 2024 (UTC)

@William M. Connolley, RCraig09, and Sadads: Right, I've prepared a sandbox draft specifically about the court case, although hearings are still in their earliest phases. What do you think about it? Oltrepier (talk) 15:14, 23 February 2024 (UTC)

@Oltrepier: I haven't compared the text to the references, but in my initial ten-minute review, I think your draft is well organized and well articulated. Would you object if I made small changes to your draft (probably this weekend)? —RCraig09 (talk) 15:31, 23 February 2024 (UTC)

Agreed: a standalone Eni article would make it feasible to reduce the large size of the Eni section here. —RCraig09 (talk) 15:36, 23 February 2024 (UTC)

@RCraig09: I absolutely don't mind further edits: go for it!

Yes, I guess the case has already gained enough notability at this point, and it will likely gain even more attention with further developments. Oltrepier (talk) 16:19, 23 February 2024 (UTC)

Background material

Adding some background material:

• Kaminski, Isabella (15 March 2024). "UK company directors may be liable for climate impacts, say lawyers". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-03-15.
• Shivji, Sharif A; Stubbs, Rebecca; Burton, James; Anderson, Karl; Sharafi, Hossein (11 March 2024). Nature-related risks and directors' duties under the law of England and Wales — Opinion (PDF). London, United Kingdom: Commonwealth Climate and Law Initiative (CCLI). Retrieved 2024-03-15.

I don't know the domain well enough to add this material. But it does look relevant. RobbieIanMorrison (talk) 23:21, 15 March 2024 (UTC)