Environment & Sustainability

This quarterly environmental law update provides a summary of a cross-section of news stories in the period July 2021 - September 2021. 

This quarterly environmental law update provides a summary of a cross-section of news stories in the period April 2021 - June 2021. 

This quarterly environmental law update provides a summary of a cross section of news stories in the period Jan 2021 - March 2021. 

As the UK settles into its tenth week of lockdown, we are starting to see glimpses of hope that we might soon be back to work, the gym, and school. But while we are all looking forward to enjoying things we did before lockdown, we shouldn't be so hasty to revert back to all of our old ways.  

In the last week, Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights said the world was increasingly at risk of “climate apartheid” where the wealthy pay to escape the impact of climate change and the rest of the world is left to suffer.

In April 2019, Polly Higgins, a British barrister, passed away after devoting ten years of her life to a campaign for a new law of ‘ecocide’ – a law that would make corporate executives and government ministers criminally liable for the damage they cause to the environment.  In this blog, we consider the current framework for punishing environmental crime at international level, and what the proposed crime of ecocide might look like.

Access to justice is central pillar to the rule of law. Ensuring individuals and organisations can afford access to justice is a real challenge, none more so than in environmental cases where the success is not driven by monetary reward.

According to the most recent data, two million people in London are living with illegal levels of air pollution. Nitrogen dioxide is one of the main pollutants and road transport is estimated to be responsible for 50% of total emissions.

We have seen in recent months various and different attempts by those who want to change the course of government policy on the issue of climate change.

For most of my life, shopaholic is a label I would have happily applied to myself. Shopping has always been a happy place for me. I have sought solace in the late night opening hours of Oxford Street’s shops after a tough day at work. I have laughed uncontrollably trying on ridiculous outfits while meandering the shops with friends on Saturday afternoons. I have felt a rush of delight at finding the perfect outfit for a friend’s wedding.

No doubt many of you reading this will have heard about the ‘Attenborough Effect’, sparked by his two latest series, ‘Blue Planet II’ and ‘Our Planet’.  Whilst these series have changed the way many of us think about plastic and have made us see that things have to change, it is important that we understand that we, as individuals, have to be part of that change. How?

The aim of this blog is not to point the finger and attribute blame to people who eat meat, mangos and Manchego. I myself am far from perfect, and am fully aware that I need to re-evaluate my relationship with cheese and stop eating so many avocados.  What this blog is intended to do, however, is to make us all think about, and be aware of, where our food comes from, the impact that food production has on the environment, and what we should be doing to reduce that impact.

Emily Carter is lawyer living in central London with two small children. Although she knows a thing or two about the law, she is not an expert in the science of climate change or the answers to the current crisis. She has, however, been asking herself some questions