Using the law in an era of climate breakdown – speaker event and panel discussion
How should lawyers respond to the era of climate breakdown?
After a summer of extreme heat, water stress, and devastating wildfires, and amid intense political debate about whether to greenlight drilling for new North Sea oil, the Environmental Rights Centres for Scotland (ERCS) and University of Glasgow’s Just Transition Research Cluster will be hosting a speaker event to explore how Scotland’s legal profession can respond to our escalating climate crisis.
This event aims to contribute to the dialogue sparked by Fossil Free Law, a campaign led by law students across Scotland to challenge the acceptability of law firms advising on fossil fuel projects.
There will be an opportunity to discuss the emergence of climate conscience lawyering, how the law can be a tool for change, and whether the principle that everyone has the right to legal representation can be balanced against the right to decline to advise fossil fuel clients whose business activities are not consistent with Paris Agreement climate targets.
We will be joined by two experts at the forefront of successful climate litigation in the UK:
Our speakers
Sarah Finch is a climate campaigner and recipient of the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize. She won a landmark legal victory against the UK Government in June 2024 on behalf of the Weald Action Group, with the UK Supreme Court ruling in her favour that before drilling for new oil or gas, developers must assess the harm that will be caused by the burning of those fuels. The ‘Finch ruling’ set a legal precedent that has already prevented subsequent fossil fuel extraction projects across the UK and is likely to inform future policy.
Tessa Khan is a lawyer and the founder and Executive Director of Uplift, an organisation that supports a rapid and fair transition away from oil and gas in the UK. She has spent two decades supporting grassroots and international movements for justice and has served as an expert advisor to UN human rights bodies and national governments. Uplift was a petitioner in the successful judicial review against the UK Government’s decision to approve permits for drilling from the Jackdaw and Rosebank oil and gas fields in the North Sea.
In conversation with Dr. Ben Christman, Legal Director of the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland and Dr. Rebecca Williams, Lecturer in Environmental Law at the University of Glasgow.
This event is jointly hosted by ERCS and the University of Glasgow’s Just Transition Research Cluster. There will be the opportunity to join online for those unable to attend in person.
Event details & accessibility
We want this event to be accessible to all. If you have any particular accessibility requirements, please contact Jack, our Office Manager (email: events@ercs.scot, tel: 0131 358 0038), as soon as you can so that we can make any arrangements required. BSL users can contact us via an online BSL/English interpreter.
We ask everyone to follow the ERCS Event Code of Conduct.
