Legal and ethical accountability of fossil fuel corporations: Need for a new social contract

Abstract

To stabilise climate change, fossil fuel businesses must accept responsibility for their part in the deterioration of environmental circumstances. Unfortunately, the regulatory structure is inadequate, making it challenging to hold fossil fuel businesses accountable. There is a significant increase in lawsuits against fossil fuel companies to make them accountable for their pollution. This study analyses litigations to hold fossil fuel companies responsible for climate change. We illustrate the present disadvantages, which can only be altered by crafting considerable modifications to business conduct's legal and ethical framework. The Social Contract Theory of Thomas Hobbes could be used to describe how businesses may be held accountable in the contemporary global economic system by re-engaging the social contract between citizens and government. This study contributes to the literature on climate change by stressing the convergence between fossil fuel firms' legal and ethical responsibilities to achieve genuine emission reduction through negotiating a new social contract.