The Mirpuri Foundation joined “Ideas and Perspectives for a Climate Emergency Bill: Developing a Toolkit for Legislators to Tackle Climate Change” Webinar, organized by prestigious British Institute for International and Comparative Law (BIICL), as part of the “Stop Climate Change” campaign.
Chaired by Richard Drabble QC, the two-hour webinar convened by Ivano Alogna (Arthur Watts Research Fellow in Environmental and Climate Change Law) and Jean-Pierre Gauci (Arthur Watts Senior Research Fellow in Public International Law, BIICL), was joined by a group of experts and prestigious speakers, such as Baroness Worthington, Alex Goodman, Marc Clément, Birgitte Egelund Olsen and Alex Goodman. Closing remarks were made by Lord Carnwath CVO, Justice of The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.
The event focused on developing a Toolkit for legislators to tackle Climate Change and discussed legal developments in the field from a comparative perspective, while also exploring the challenges faced. Attendants were able to hear several perspectives on climate change legislation, in Denmark, or France, but also to work on ideas for a new Climate Emergency Act in the UK, one that could positively impact other countries.
Speaking previously on Climate Change and the Mirpuri Foundation campaign, President Paulo Mirpuri said: “In recent years we have all watched as extreme weather conditions and rising sea levels have caused great hardship for millions of people around the world. We are told that if we do not take action on climate change, that our planet’s surface temperature could rise by three degrees, bringing as yet unquantifiable destruction and suffering to the people and animals that call Planet Earth their home.”
The overall climate reduction target must be fulfilled, and new interim targets should be in place. The world needs to involve all governance levels to help fight climate change, but action depends as well on every single individual around the globe.
About BIICL
The British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL) is one of the leading independent research centres for international and comparative law in the world. Our high quality research projects, seminars and publications encompass almost all areas of public and private international law, comparative law and European law, and we are at the forefront of discussions on the many contemporary issues of international and comparative law. BIICL includes within it the innovative Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law, which has a particular focus on the many rule of law issues worldwide.
Speaker Biographies
Richard Drabble QC (Chair)
Richard Drabble QC was called to the Bar in 1975 and took silk in 1995. He is a Bencher of Inner Temple, a former Chairman of the Administrative Law Bar Association and currently member of the Bar Council’s Law Reform Committee. He has long been one of the leading public and environmental lawyers in the UK and has acted in many of the most significant environmental law cases at every level of the UK and European Courts.
Baroness Worthington
Baroness Bryony Worthington is a Crossbench member of the House of Lords since 2011, having spent a career working on conservation, energy and climate change issues. She was the lead author in the team which drafted the 2008 Climate Change Act. In 2008, she launched Sandbag, an NGO that uses data insights to advocate for a swift transition to clean energy. She served as Shadow Spokesperson for Energy and Climate Change and led on two Energy Bills for the Shadow Ministerial Team. From 2016 to 2019 she was the Executive Director of Environmental Defence Fund Europe. Her current roles include co-chairing the cross party caucus Peers for the Planet and devising grant-making strategies for the Quadrature Climate Foundation.
Marc Clément
Marc Clément is presiding judge at the Administrative Court of Lyon (France). He is also member of: the French Environmental Authority, the Deontological Committee of the Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety and the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (UNECE). He was administrative judge at Administrative Court of Appeal of Lyon from 2012 to 2018. He was, from 2006 to 2012, lawyer at the Directorate General Environment of the European Commission. He was from 2004 to 2006, legal adviser of the European Environment Agency. He was previously judge at the Administrative Court of Lyon and started his career as researcher for private companies (Lyonnaise des Eaux, EDF). He is joint founder of the European Law Institute.
Birgitte Egelund Olsen
Birgitte Egelund Olsen is professor of Law at Aarhus University and President of the Danish Environment and Food Board of Appeal (a specialized administrative ‘court’). Moreover, she is member of the Danish Energy Board of Appeal and until 2019 Chairman of the Danish Wind Turbine Valuation Authority. Her work emphasises on analysing various policy designs and regulatory mechanisms that may help governments and businesses to detect appropriate policy incentives to facilitate sustainable transitions to a low carbon society.
Alex Goodman
Alex Goodman is a barrister practising in environmental, planning and public law at Landmark Chambers. He was called to the bar in 2003. He was appointed to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s ’A’ Panel of counsel in May 2019. He was formerly a councillor and leader of Camden Green Party. He was a fellow of the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law with whom he continues to work principally on constitutional law, and is currently engaged on the constitution of the Gambia. He will be speaking about ideas for a new UK Climate Emergency Act and his forthcoming case in which he is acting for George Monbiot, Dale Vince and the Good Law Project which seeks to compel the government to review its energy policy in its National Policy Statements. He helped convene this meeting through his work with Rights Community Action, a small NGO focused on climate change community action.
Lord Carnwath CVO
Lord Carnwath of Notting Hill, CVO has been a Justice of the Supreme Court from April 2012 to March 2020. He was called to the Bar (Middle Temple) in 1968 and took silk in 1985. He served as Attorney General to the Prince of Wales from 1988 to 1994. He was a judge of the Chancery Division from 1994 to 2002, during which time he was also Chairman of the Law Commission. He was appointed to the Court of Appeal in 2002. Between 2007 and 2012 he was Senior President of Tribunals. Lord Carnwath has a long-standing interest in environmental issues and is President of the UK Environmental Law Association.
