Corporate climate litigation: How the law is being used to stand up to big business and hold companies accountable for their impacts on climate

Join Climate Case Ireland for an exciting discussion on using the law to hold the polluters accountable!

On Wednesday 02 December at 10am (Irish time) we will host the third instalment of our Winter Webinar Series.

We are delighted to announce that we will be joined by a panel of fascinating international speakers from ClientEarth; Environmental Defenders Office, Australia; and Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria.

ClientEarth is a legal organisation which uses the power of law to bring about systemic change that protects the earth for – and with – its inhabitants. They work in partnership across borders, systems and sectors, using the law to protect life on Earth. They work to bring about end-to-end systemic change: informing, implementing and enforcing the law, advising decision-makers on policy and training legal and judicial professionals. They work on climate accountability, using the law to hold government and businesses to account over climate change and to drive positive action.

Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) is the largest environmental legal centre in the Australia-Pacific, dedicated to protecting our climate, communities and shared environment by providing access to justice, running groundbreaking litigation and leading law reform advocacy. They are an accredited community legal service and a non-governmental, not-for-profit organisation which uses the law to protect and defend Australia’s wildlife, people and places.

Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FOEN) is an advocacy non-governmental organisation which works on environmental human rights issues in Nigeria. They are the Nigerian chapter of Friends of the Earth International. They dedicate themselves to the defence of human ecosystems in terms of human rights and to the promotion of environmentally responsible governmental, commercial, community and individual practice in Nigeria through the empowerment of local people. Their program areas include corporate accountability, democracy outreach, energy and extractives, food sovereignty, environmental health and forest & biodiversity. They are the co-ordinating NGO in Africa for Oilwatch International, the global South network of groups concerned about the effects of oil on the environment of people who live in oil-bearing regions.

Speakers

Paul Benson, ClientEarth:

Paul Benson is a lawyer in ClientEarth’s climate team. He focuses on strategic litigation and other legal interventions targeting companies, in order to drive the transition to a low carbon future. Prior to joining ClientEarth, Paul spent over ten years in private practice, primarily in the London and Berlin offices of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, where he specialised in commercial litigation and contentious environmental matters. He is qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales, with higher rights of audience. He is also a member of the Chamber of Lawyers in Berlin. Paul holds a BA in Law from the University of Cambridge. He is fluent in German.

Sean Ryan and Bri Collins, Environmental Defender’s Office, Australia (EDO):

Sean Ryan, Managing Director of Safe Climate at EDO: Sean has degrees in both law and environmental science as well as a Masters in Environmental Law from the University of Queensland. Having worked for all levels of government and a range of industries on a broad spectrum of environmental issues, Sean brings an experienced perspective to assisting the community and public interest. Sean worked for both government and in private consultancy before moving onto a six-year stint in private law practice with Corrs Chambers Westgarth. He joined EDO in 2011 where he worked mainly on climate change litigation including appeals against thermal coal mines in the Galilee Basin and leading an innovative new case for young people against the impact of climate change on their human rights from a draft government decision to approve a major new coal mine.

Bri Collins, Solicitor in Safe Climate at EDO: Bri graduated with a Bachelor of Arts/Laws (Hons I) from the University of Queensland in July this year and was admitted as a Queensland solicitor in September. Having a background in the Australian youth climate justice movement, she came to EDO as an undergraduate to implement her university research on avenues for climate change litigation under the new Queensland Human Rights Act into case theory. Two years later, this continues to be her main work at EDO, and has crystallised into the Galilee Coal Project case, Australia’s first climate change and human rights case. Part-time she is also employed by the University of Queensland to further her research of the intersection between climate change law and human rights.

Chima Williams, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria:

Chima is a lawyer by profession and is an activist with ERA/FOEN, having volunteered and then worked with them since 1993. Before beginning in his current role as Acting Executive Director earlier this year, Chima worked for many years as Head of Legal Resources/Democracy Outreach at ERA/FOEN. He is a practising barrister and Principal Partner at Chima Williams & Associates. He is also President of Green Alliance Nigeria and is in his second term as an Editorial Board Member of Business and Human Rights Journal published by Cambridge University Press, London. Chima is Country Focal Person and Regional Chairman, Publicity Committee of Public Interest Lawyering Initiative for West Africa.

Webinar Link & Further Information

Date: Wednesday 02 December 2020

Time: 10am Irish time (11am CET; 11am WAT; 8pm AEST)

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/82395348434

If you have any specific access requirements please get in touch in advance of the webinar to let us know so that we can endeavour to accommodate these as best we can.

There will be a Q&A box function during the webinar where questions can be submitted to panellists.

Recordings from this webinar, along with the other webinars in our Climate Case Ireland Winter Webinar Series, are available to view on our Youtube page here.

We look forward to welcoming you to our webinar soon!