Eni is facing a climate lawsuit with environmental groups alleging the company used “lobbying and greenwashing” to push for more fossil fuels despite having knowledge of its risks since 1970.
The environmental group Greenpeace Italy and fellow green campaigner ReCommon filed the suit along with 12 citizens from areas of Italy severely affected by extreme weather events, Greenpeace said in a statement. The suit was “for past and potential future damages resulting from its contribution to climate change, of which Eni was well aware but chose to ignore for decades,” it said.
The allegations rest in part on a study Eni commissioned between 1969 and 1970 from its Isvet research centre by the nonprofit climate news service DeSmog. The report made clear that left unchecked, rising fossil fuel use could lead to a climate crisis within just a few decades.
“ENI scored record profits in 2022, yet it continues to invest in expanding its fossil fuels business, dismissing climate impacts and ignoring local communities,” said Chiara Campione from Greenpeace.
The suit is the first of its kind against a private company in Italy.