从石油律师到环保斗士

When I was younger, I worked in the oil industry. 我年轻时曾在石油行业工作。

I was a corporate lawyer inside one of the biggest oil companies in the world. 我曾是全球最大石油公司之一的内部企业律师。

Then one day, in the middle of a massive deal, a colleague said to me, "This is so sexy." 有一天，在一项大型交易进行到一半时，一位同事对我说：“这真是太诱人了。”

And I knew I had to leave. 我当时就知道我必须离开了。

So I did. 于是我离开了。

I went back to my home country, Guyana, South America. 我回到了我的祖国，位于南美洲的圭亚那。

Guyana is a very special place. 圭亚那是一个非常特别的地方。

It's a carbon sink (碳汇: 吸收并储存二氧化碳的自然或人工系统). 它是一个碳汇。

It's part of the Amazon rainforest (亚马逊雨林: 南美洲的大型热带雨林，对全球气候至关重要). 它是亚马逊雨林的一部分。

I started to work defending people and nature. 我开始致力于保护人类和自然。

I drafted new laws to protect the environment and Indigenous land rights. 我起草了新法律，以保护环境和原住民的土地权利。

I used those laws to empower an Indigenous community so that they could protect 2,300 square miles of tropical forest. 我利用这些法律赋予了一个原住民社区权力，使他们能够保护2300平方英里的热带森林。

This was really important to me because I feel deeply connected to nature. 这对我来说非常重要，因为我与大自然有着深刻的联结。

Nature lives with me in my house and in my garden. 大自然与我同住，在我的房子里，在我的花园里。

I'm talking about the birds, the butterflies, the flowers, the trees, the bees, the bats, the toads, the lizards, the opossums, the little snakes. 我说的是鸟儿、蝴蝶、花朵、树木、蜜蜂、蝙蝠、蟾蜍、蜥蜴、负鼠和小蛇。

All of them are my family. 它们都是我的家人。

And in the quiet stillness of an afternoon when a hummingbird shimmers in the air just a few feet away from me, I know there is magic on Earth. 在某个宁静的午后，当一只蜂鸟在我几英尺外闪烁在空中时，我知道地球上存在着魔力。

挑战石油巨头：法律即力量

But that magic is threatened by global overheating caused by greenhouse gas pollution (温室气体污染: 导致全球变暖的气体排放) from the fossil fuel industry (化石燃料产业: 涉及煤炭、石油和天然气等化石燃料的开采、生产和销售的行业). 然而，这种魔力正受到由化石燃料产业产生的温室气体污染所导致的全球过热的威胁。

So the story I want to tell you now takes us back to the oil industry. 所以，我现在想讲的故事将我们带回到石油行业。

But this time it's a story of fighting and winning. 但这次，这是一个关于战斗并取得胜利的故事。

The story begins in 2015, when ExxonMobil (埃克森美孚: 全球最大的石油和天然气公司之一) said they had found oil offshore Guyana. 故事始于2015年，当时埃克森美孚公司宣布他们在圭亚那近海发现了石油。

This is one of the biggest finds in recent times. 这是近年来最大的发现之一。

More than 11 billion barrels of oil. 超过110亿桶石油。

Burning that could release five billion tons of greenhouse gas pollution. 燃烧这些石油可能会释放50亿吨温室气体污染物。

This Guyana field is so important to Exxon, they call it a jewel in their crown. 这个圭亚那油田对埃克森公司如此重要，他们称之为皇冠上的宝石。

I knew I had to do something. 我知道我必须做些什么。

I know what you're thinking. 我知道你在想什么。

The oil industry is big. 石油行业庞大。

It's powerful. 它势力强大。

We've all seen how hard it is to go up against oil companies. 我们都见过与石油公司对抗有多么困难。

They want you to believe that you can't fight them. 他们想让你相信你无法与他们抗衡。

But you can. 但你可以。

And you can win. 而且你可以赢。

I'm doing it, and so can you. 我正在做，你也可以。

The oil industry does not care about you, or human rights or the environment or the planet. 石油行业不关心你，不关心人权，不关心环境，也不关心地球。

The oil industry cares about money. 石油行业只关心金钱。

The only thing they respond to is power. 他们唯一会回应的就是权力。

Law is power. 法律就是力量。

I'm a lawyer. 我是一名律师。

I use law. 我运用法律。

早期胜利与策略：削减许可证期限

When I first started this work, I was alone. 当我刚开始这项工作时，我是孤身一人。

People laughed at me for taking on the oil industry with no money and with a pensioner for a client. 人们嘲笑我，在没有资金的情况下，仅凭一位退休老人作为客户，就敢挑战石油行业。

But I have filed ten cases against the oil, and good, courageous lawyers have been inspired to join this fight. 但我已经提起了十起针对石油公司的诉讼，许多优秀而勇敢的律师也受到了启发，加入了这场斗争。

We first beat ExxonMobil in 2020. 我们于2020年首次击败了埃克森美孚。

We cut ExxonMobil Guyana's permits down from 20 years to five years. 我们将埃克森美孚圭亚那公司的许可证期限从20年缩短到了5年。

We managed to do this because I read through 197 pages of legal rules and regulations, and there, on page 191, was a rule that restricted environmental permits to five years. 我们之所以能做到这一点，是因为我仔细阅读了197页的法律规章，在第191页，有一条规定将环境许可证的期限限制为五年。

We just enforced that rule. 我们只是执行了那条规定。

Simple but effective. 简单却有效。

I don't ask judges to make new laws. 我不会要求法官制定新法律。

I不用道德论证。 I don't use moral arguments.

我运用现有的法律。 I use existing law.

My heart tells me what to do, but my head tells me how to do it. 我的心告诉我该做什么，但我的头脑告诉我该怎么做。

I don't confuse the two. 我不会把两者混淆。

重大胜利：范围三排放与无限责任

Our most recent win was March 2025. 我们最近一次胜利是在2025年3月。

We said the environmental impact assessment (环境影响评估: 评估项目对环境潜在影响的过程) for Exxon's project to extract oil from Guyana should take into account all the pollution anywhere in the world, wherever that oil is burned, what we call Scope 3 emissions (范围三排放: 并非由公司直接产生，但也与其价值链相关的间接温室气体排放). 我们提出，埃克森公司在圭亚那开采石油项目的环境影响评估，应将世界上任何地方、无论石油在哪里燃烧所产生的所有污染，即我们所称的范围三排放纳入考量。

We used a section of the law that I had drafted which said an environmental impact assessment must include indirect impacts. 我们引用了我起草的法律中的一个条款，该条款规定环境影响评估必须包括间接影响。

We said Scope 3 emissions are indirect impacts. 我们认为范围三排放就是间接影响。

The judge agreed. 法官同意了。

So the environmental impact assessment for that ExxonMobil Guyana project now has to take into account Scope 3 emissions, which makes it harder to justify doing oil. 因此，埃克森美孚圭亚那项目的环境影响评估现在必须考虑范围三排放，这使得开采石油变得更难被合理化。

That decision sets a precedent. 这项裁决开创了一个先例。

It applies to every project by ExxonMobil Guyana, and it applies to every company that wants to produce oil from Guyana. 它适用于埃克森美孚圭亚那公司的每一个项目，也适用于所有希望在圭亚那生产石油的公司。

Thank you. 谢谢。

We all know oil production is a very dangerous exercise. 我们都知道石油生产是一项非常危险的活动。

When things go wrong, someone has to pay. 一旦出现问题，总得有人为此买单。

And this brings me to our most significant case so far. 这把我带到了我们迄今为止最重要的一个案例。

We said Guyana should not have to pay for harm caused by Exxon's drilling. 我们说圭亚那不应该为埃克森钻探造成的损害买单。

We说埃克森应该买单。 We said Exxon should pay.

法官同意了我们的看法。 The judge agreed with us.

He said ExxonMobil Guyana Limited is liable for all costs of cleaning up and restoring the environment and compensating people. 他说，埃克森美孚圭亚那有限公司必须承担清理和恢复环境以及赔偿所有人的所有费用。

And he said that liability is unlimited. 他还说，这项责任是无限的。

That could be billions of dollars. 这可能涉及数十亿美元。

The judge said ExxonMobil Guyana Limited did not have the money to cover this potential liability, so he ordered an unlimited parent company guarantee (母公司担保: 母公司对其子公司债务或义务的承诺). 法官表示，埃克森美孚圭亚那有限公司没有足够的资金来承担这项潜在的责任，因此他下令要求其提供无限额的母公司担保。

In the two weeks following this decision, ExxonMobil Corporation's share price declined by 12 percent. 在该裁决发布后的两周内，埃克森美孚公司的股价下跌了12%。

其他进展与挑战

We've had other successes. 我们还取得了其他成功。

The courts have said ExxonMobil Guyana Limited has to comply with international law. 法院表示，埃克森美孚圭亚那有限公司必须遵守国际法。

They have to provide insurance. 他们必须提供保险。

They have to provide a two-billion-dollar guarantee. 他们必须提供20亿美元的担保。

The courts have even said that ExxonMobil Guyana's co-venturers, Hess Guyana (赫斯圭亚那: 赫斯公司在圭亚那的子公司，赫斯公司是美国一家独立的能源公司) and CNOOC (中国海洋石油总公司: 中国最大的海上石油和天然气生产商), Chinese National Offshore Oil Corporation Guyana, are not allowed to use their petroleum production license to produce oil. 法院甚至裁定，埃克森美孚圭亚那公司的合资伙伴，赫斯圭亚那和中海油（中国海洋石油总公司圭亚那公司），不得使用其石油生产许可证来生产石油。

Of course, we don't always win. 当然，我们并非总是获胜。

The first case I filed was for someone I met when I accidentally crashed into him on my bicycle. 我提起的第一个案子是为一个我骑自行车时不小心撞到的人。

He was an advisor to the President of Guyana. 他是圭亚那总统的顾问。

His reputation was so fierce, his nickname was Rambo. 他的名声非常彪悍，绰号叫“兰博”。

Twenty years later, Rambo turned up in my office, now a 75-year-old pensioner, absolutely furious with ExxonMobil and determined to fight. 二十年后，“兰博”出现在我的办公室，他现在是一位75岁的退休老人，对埃克森美孚公司非常愤怒，决心要战斗。

I took the case. 我接下了这个案子。

The judges did not give us the ruling we asked for, but we still achieved something really significant. 法官没有给我们想要的裁决，但我们仍然取得了一些非常重要的成就。

In many countries around the world, if you go to court and you lose, you could end up paying the other side's costs. 在世界上许多国家，如果你打官司输了，你可能最终要支付对方的诉讼费用。

That could be very expensive. 那可能会非常昂贵。

People might be afraid to go to court. 人们可能会因此不敢上法庭。

We changed that. 我们改变了这一点。

In our case, the judges said, if you come to court and you are protecting the environment, but you lose, you should not have to pay the costs for the other side. 在我们的案件中，法官裁定，如果你出庭是为了保护环境，即使你输了，你也不必支付对方的诉讼费用。

That makes it easier. 这让事情变得更容易。

That makes it easier for people to go to court now and fight the oil industry. 这使得现在人们更容易上法庭，与石油行业抗争。

That decision already binds five countries. 这项裁决已经对五个国家具有约束力。

I hope that people outside of those five countries will take this judgment and will use it to persuade the judges in their countries that you should be able to fight for your planet and not be penalized if you lose in court. 我希望那些在这五个国家之外的人们能够借鉴这项判决，并用它来 M说服他们国家的法官，你应当能够为你的星球而战，即使在法庭上败诉也不应受到惩罚。

持续抗争：石油行业的终结

We will continue to fight. 我们将继续战斗。

We don't have a choice. 我们别无选择。

The business model for the oil industry depends upon producing greenhouse gas pollution, which is a serious danger to life on Earth. 石油行业的商业模式依赖于产生温室气体污染，这对地球上的生命构成了严重威胁。

It's them or us. 这是他们或我们。

So ... Don't be fooled by the big bad image of the oil industry. 所以……不要被石油行业庞大而邪恶的形象所迷惑。

We have the advantage. 我们占有优势。

The oil industry is weak. 石油行业是脆弱的。

It’s powerless. 它毫无力量。

It's going to collapse. 它将会崩溃。

It's only a question of when. 这只是时间问题。

Of course, they want you to feel despair. 当然，他们想让你感到绝望。

They want you to feel as if you're powerless. 他们想让你觉得自己无能为力。

But they can only do that if we let them. 但只有我们允许，他们才能做到这一点。

When we fight with courage and intelligence, we beat the oil industry. 当我们勇敢而智慧地战斗时，我们就能击败石油行业。

Thank you. 谢谢。