Climate Law Matters

Oct 30 2024 18 ep. 22 mins 3
Climate Law Matters Podcast artwork

Steph David, a barrister at 39 Essex Chambers, investigates the key legal developments, across both public and private law, in addressing the most pressing challenge of our generation, climate change. Through this podcast, she interviews leaders in their fields, and across a range of sectors, to understand (i) the key developments as they see them and (ii) the role for litigation and regulation in those developments, including any legal barriers.

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Episode 18: Interview with Sarah Finch – The campaigner behind the most significant climate case of this century so far (Part 1)

Oct 30 2024 21 mins  
On 20 June 2024, the Supreme Court handed down its judgment in R (Finch) v Surrey County Council [2024] P.T.S.R. 988 in which the majority found that the grant of planning permission for oil production in Horse Hill, Surrey, was unlawful, because the environmental impact assessment had not assessed the downstream greenhouse gas emissions from the combustion of the oil. There has be

Episode 17: Interview with Catherine Dobson – The UK’s Net Zero plans are declared unlawful, again

May 14 2024 28 mins  
On 3 May 2024, the UK’s plan to meet the Sixth Carbon Budget set under the Climate Change Act 2008 (‘CCA 2008’) was declared unlawful for the second time by the High Court J in R (Friends of the Earth & Oths) v Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero [2024] EWHC 995 (Admin). In this episode, junior counsel for Friends of the Earth, Catherine Dobson, of 39 Esse

Episode 16: Interview with Ruth Chambers – Environmental Improvement at a crossroads

Feb 22 2024 29 mins  
Ruth Chambers, Senior Fellow at Green Alliance, discusses the Office for Environmental Protection’s recent annual statutory report, published on 18 January 2023, and shares her views, more generally, on the role and effectiveness of the Environment Act 2021 in achieving its goals in relation to the natural environment, particularly those relating to climate change mitigation and

Episode 15: Interview with Alex Lee – The precautionary principle from the perspective of a scientist – Part 2

Feb 07 2024 21 mins  
Dr Alex Lee delves further into the role of the precautionary principle in the context of climate modelling to assess resilience – essential in adapting to climate change. He considers the case study of landfill sites and caps; and how their vulnerability to climate change should be analysed. Alex then explains how the precautionary principle can be an effective tool before consi

Episode 14: Interview with Alex Lee – The precautionary principle from the perspective of a scientist – Part 1

Jan 24 2024 14 mins  
Climate modelling is growing in importance in disputes, such as investor state disputes concerned with climate attribution. Dr Alex Lee, Chartered Geologist and Scientist, head of the environmental and climate change team at HKA, explains how climate modelling works and sets out his experience involving, for example, nuclear waste, power stations in coastal locations, and groundwat

Episode 13: Interview with Elsie Blackshaw-Crosby – Lifescape Project and the Biomass Strategy

Jan 10 2024 20 mins  
The Lifescape Project is concerned with creating a world rich in wild landscapes through a multi-disciplinary approach. Elsie Blackshaw-Crosby, Managing Lawyer at the charity, discusses her journey and how she ended up working with the project before setting out, in more detail, how the charity uses the law to achieve its objectives. Elsie also discusses the charity’s recent

Episode 12: Interview with Paul Redington – The Unintended Consequences of Solar: an Insurer's Perspective

Oct 31 2023 13 mins  
Whilst recognising the importance of renewable energy sources, Paul Redington, regional major loss property claims manager at Zurich, emphasises the need to be aware of the risks associated with sustainable energy source; and consider how they should be managed and mitigated. In this episode, Paul focuses on the rise in electrical fires from solar panels in both residential and com

Episode 11: Interview with Rachel O’Connor – Insect protein for animal feed

Sep 19 2023 26 mins  
Whilst there has been a shift in the UK to less meat and dairy consumption, globally the amount consumed is only likely increase. A significant proportion of animal feed is soya, which is imported from South America. Rachel O’Connor explains why using insect protein as animal feed makes sense from a land use, climate change, biodiversity and food system perspective.  She set

Episode 10: Interview with David Rouch - Investing for Sustainability Impact - Part 2

Sep 05 2023 18 mins  
In the last episode, David Rouch provided an overview of a report that he co-authored, entitled “A Legal Framework For Impact: Sustainability Impact in Investor Decision-making” – a report commissioned by UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative, Principles for Responsible Investment and The Generation Foundation and published by Freshfields. In this part, he discusses the

Episode 9: Climate Law Matters Episode 9: Interview with David Rouch - Investing for Sustainability Impact - Part 1

Aug 23 2023 26 mins  
David Rouch is a financial services partner at Freshfields with expertise in sustainable investing. He is the author of the “Social Licence For Financial Markets: Reaching For The End And Why It Counts” (Palgrave Macmillan 2020), as well as the co-author of “A Legal Framework For Impact: Sustainability Impact in Investor Decision-making” – a report commissioned by UN Envi