How do plants survive being in the sun for 12 hours straight or more?
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some plants are evolved to grow in full sunlight, e.g. on the prairies and savannah. All plants use sunlight as energy source to grow themselves, and full-sun plants do it very efficiently. They also might have shiny leaves to reflect excessive sunlight, or thick skin to prevent sun from evaporating their water.
The plants that evolved to grow in the shade of trees can and do get sunburned. Their leaves develop dead yellow spots, and die eventually.
here are more details: https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens-gardening/your-garden/help-for-the-home-gardener/advice-tips-resources/pests-and-problems/environmental/scorch.aspx
To answer the first part of your question; yes, plants can get sunburned. Water droplets on a plant work similar to a magnifying lens in the Sun. This is why you don’t want to water your garden during the daytime in the summer.
Plants make their own sunscreen: https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2014/Q4/study-gets-to-the-roots-of-plants-natural-sunscreen.html
If you transplant a plant from low sun exposure to high exposure, they can get sunburned. This can be deadly for young plants. Slowly exposing sun or blocking full sunlight is recommended to help the young plant adapt to the new sunlight levels.
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