Cultural tip on SDG 13: Documentary "Duty of Care - The Climate Trials"
- 2022-12-19
- Janna Degener-Storr
The documentary ‘Duty of Care - The Climate Trials’ that is just under an hour long illustrates a new way to address climate change and realize UN Sustainable Development Goal 13 "".
Large corporations such as Shell, Total or BP extract and process oil and gas on a large scale to generate profits. These products contribute considerably to global warming, which in turn causes flooding, draughts and wildfires that lead to human suffering around the world. This is happening despite the general duty of care, which provides that nobody must create risks for others through their actions.
In his documentary the director Nic Balthazar shows how the lawyer Roger Cox fought this injustice in court. In an unprecedented lawsuit, the Dutch government and the Shell corporation were called on to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The verdict was applauded in the streets. Nevertheless, the corporation is not going to fulfil this duty.
The documentary from 2022 that is just under an hour long is entertaining and inspiring, stressed critic . In addition to lawyers, activists such as Luisa Neubauer of Fridays for Future and other charismatic and renowned experts got the chance to speak in the documentary. The director himself also stepped in front of the camera, and the story is structured based on his personal perception of the problem.
The case gave rise to numerous further climate-related lawsuits worldwide. The film was screened in Dutch and English with English subtitles at various events such as the .