The Brazilian prosecutor’s office has filed a lawsuit against the local subsidiary of British energy giant Shell, demanding $108 million in damages for the historic floods that devastated southern Brazil in April and May 2024. This marks a legal turning point as the first time a national prosecutor has targeted an oil company over a climate disaster.
The catastrophic rainfall displaced half a million people, claimed nearly 200 lives, and caused unprecedented destruction across the region. According to court documents reviewed by AFP, prosecutors calculated Shell’s liability based on its contribution to global warming. The company’s historical greenhouse gas emissions account for 2 percent of the global total.
Maria Antonia Tigre of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University told AFP that this is the first time a national prosecutor has sued an oil company over a climate disaster.
Breaking Down the 108 Million Dollar Claim
The financial penalty sought by Brazilian authorities is split evenly across distinct categories of harm. Prosecutors are demanding 270 million Brazilian real for environmental and “immaterial” climate damages, alongside an identical 270 million real for material destruction. Combined, the total reaches the $108 million figure.
The litigation is being pursued in cooperation with the Brazilian non-governmental organization Instituto Preservar. Thales Miola, an attorney for the Instituto Preservar, emphasized that the costs of climate damage must not be borne solely by society and those who lost everything in the tragedy, and that large polluters must be held responsible for the losses.
Meanwhile, on the London Stock Exchange, Shell shares edged up 0.08 percent to 37.96 GBP.
A Growing Global Wave of Climate Litigations
Brazil’s action against Shell is part of an expanding international legal front. NGOs and legal teams have filed lawsuits in recent years, aiming to have large polluting companies sentenced to compensate victims of climate change regardless of their place of residence, according to their share of greenhouse gas emissions.
Similar legal battles are unfolding across multiple jurisdictions:
| Target Company | Litigants / Origin | Basis of Legal Challenge |
|---|---|---|
| Shell | Brazilian Prosecutor’s Office & Instituto Preservar | $108 million damages for 2024 southern Brazil floods (2% historical emissions share) |
| Shell | Typhoon victims from the Philippines | Liability for extreme weather displacement and damages heard in the United Kingdom |
| RWE | Saul Luciano Lliuya (Peruvian farmer) | Case in Germany; judges rejected compensation in his specific case but paved the way for further lawsuits |
| Holcim | Four residents of Pari Island, Indonesia | Compensation for rising sea levels filed in Swiss courts |
| RWE & Heidelberg Materials | Pakistani farmers | Lawsuit in Germany tied to 2022 floods |
The German judiciary established a principle in the case involving Saul Luciano Lliuya and RWE. Although German judges rejected compensation payments in his specific case, they paved the way for further lawsuits. Additional actions include a Swiss lawsuit against the cement producer Holcim by residents of Indonesia’s Pari Island, and a German proceeding where RWE and the cement producer Heidelberg Materials face claims from Pakistani farmers impacted by the 2022 floods.
Shell was not reachable for comment upon request by AFP.
