Hot Tips on Litigating to Cool the Planet and Freeze the Assault on Nature: Building Impactful Strategic Litigation from Conception to Close

Climate defenders try to raise the alarm through legitimate protest yet are increasingly finding themselves silenced by the tactics of polluting companies who seek injunctions and huge costs. What can we do to defend their interests while challenging the root cause of the problem – the destructive acts of those companies?

This seminar considered how to apply recent successes in the courts more broadly and imaginatively to protect our precarious planet.

Specific topics addressed include:

• Taking on a campaign and litigation
• Experiences of working with an NGO
• Tackling injunctions, protecting protest rights, disruption and dissent 
• Taking inspiration from climate litigation across the globe.

The seminar was chaired by Abigail Holt.

Speakers
Abigail Holt, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers (Chair)
Abi specialises in environmental law and climate justice. She worked on the “Zero Hour” Campaign for the cross-party Climate and Ecology Bill, aiming to implement the Paris Agreement. Her current practice includes industrial disease work, including asbestos litigation, which aims to hold polluters accountable. Abi’s scientific background in epidemiology supports her asbestos litigation practice. Abi has a strong grounding in EU and Human Rights Law. In 2023, Abi was involved in research in relation to the EU Health Governance movement where academics attempt to generate public health-related policies applicable across the EU.

Stephanie Harrison KC, Garden Court Chambers
Described as a "brilliant advocate", Stephanie is a leading public law practitioner who has appeared at all court levels. Her multi-disciplinary practice spans the breadth of public law and civil liberties. She is regularly involved in test case litigation and has been instrumental in winning some of the most important cases within her areas of specialism in recent times. Much of her work is high profile and receives media coverage. Stephanie was appointed as legal counsel to the Equality and Human Rights Commission in 2015. Stephanie is ranked for Administrative and Public Law, Civil Liberties and Human Rights and Immigration in both the Legal 500 and Chambers UK Bar Guide. 

Jodie Blackstock, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers
Jodie is a public law and human rights specialist, with extensive experience in justice system reform through policy, research and strategic litigation. Jodie was formerly Legal Director at Justice and has advised upon and acted in third party interventions for NGOs in a number of jurisdictions. Jodie undertakes constitutional and judicial review matters in the Caribbean and on appeal to the Privy Council. She is passionate about protecting the environment in the UK and internationally. She is a contributing author to Legal Action Magazine's Environmental Law Update and is an active member of Lawyers are Responsible.

Acland Bryant, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers
Acland is developing a broad practice in administrative and public law, specialising in environmental law and climate justice. He has expertise in all aspects of domestic and international environmental law, working with international environmental NGOs, charities, activists and individuals impacted by environmental degradation and climate change. Acland also has significant experience in planning law, particularly in assessing the environmental and climate impacts of planning applications. His previous role as a Parish Councillor involved considering planning applications affecting the parish and its residents, alongside enforcement applications and appeals. His practice now extends to planning inquiries and public law challenges to planning decisions.

Sarah Finch, Climate Campaigner 
Sarah campaigned, with the Weald Action Group, against Surrey County Council’s decision to grant planning permission for oil production at Horse Hill in Surrey. She took her climate justice case all the way to the UK Supreme Court and won. The Supreme Court agreed with Ms Finch that it was inevitable that greenhouse gas emissions would result from the burning of the oil produced, that those emissions were clearly indirect effects of the development, and that the Council’s failure to assess and consider the impact of those emissions on the climate and global warming was unlawful. This ground-breaking judgment will have wide ramifications in the UK and beyond its borders. Sarah was represented by Marc Willers KC of Garden Court and others, and supported by NGOs Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace UK.