Virginia Supreme Court Rules That Insurer Has No Duty to Defend Global Warming-Related Claims
By: John M. Sylvester (Pittsburgh) and Jonathan D. Christman (Pittsburgh)
In the nation’s first appellate decision of its kind, the Virginia Supreme Court has held that an insurer does not have a duty to defend an energy company policyholder for third-party liability claims alleging global warming-related damage. Specifically, in AES Corp. v. Steadfast Insurance Co., the Virginia Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision and determined that an insurer had no duty to defend AES Corporation with respect to a global warming claim lawsuit brought by a native Alaskan village against several energy and utility companies on grounds that the complaint did not contain allegations of an “occurrence” necessary to trigger the insurer’s relevant policies. This decision, however, is certainly not a conclusive statement on the issue of insurance coverage for global warming claims because the legal principles on which the decision is based are a minority view.
