Over recent years, a revolution has been taking place in the public fight against climate change. Judiciaries around the world are playing an increasingly important role in holding corporations and governments accountable to pursue more ambitious climate change mitigation and adaptation goals. Some notable landmark legal cases have held the UK government accountable for breaching air pollution limits, protected Europe’s oldest forests in Poland, and halted the roll-out of environmentally harmful corporate operations in the Netherlands and the UK. We held a fireside chat with James Thornton, the Founding CEO of Client Earth and Paul van Zyl, Co-Founder of The Conduit, as they discussed the future of climate litigation and the implications of climate justice in ensuring that governments and companies commit towards ensuring a just net zero emission future.

Speaker Bio:

James Thornton is a world authority on the power of the law to create lasting change, having dedicated his life to fighting for climate and environmental justice. He is a global thinker, revered public speaker and a beacon of hope for our planet. He launched ClientEarth in 2007, sparking fundamental change in the way environmental protections are made and enforced across Europe. Now operating globally, ClientEarth uses advocacy, litigation and research to address the greatest challenges of our time – including nature loss, human health and social justice. In the last decade alone, his creative and critical-thinking has shaped an EU-wide law banning illegally harvested rainforest timber, won numerous cases against governments for failing to tackle air pollution, and blocked the largest coal plant in Europe. He and his team of not-for-profit lawyers use the most effective tool in the arsenal for change, the law. The New Statesman has named James as one of 10 people who could change the world. The Lawyer has picked him as one of the top 100 lawyers in the UK and he was named as one of the 1,000 most influential people in London. He has won Leader of the Year at the Business Green Awards three times and was awarded Charity Leader of the Year in 2020. The Financial Times awarded him its Special Achievement accolade at the FT Innovative Lawyers Awards. He can be heard on a diverse mix of broadcast, print and multimedia including Channel 4, BBC Radio 3 & 4, TEDx and The Guardian.