When: Monday, June 10, 2024, 10:00 AM - 8:00 PMWhere: LG1, Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London, 67-69 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London WC2A 3JB
Time: 10 AM - 5 PM. Lunch from 1.15 PM - 2.45 PM.
Climate change represents the most pressing threat to the existence - physical, legal, cultural and social - of small states and territories worldwide. This conference brings together organisations and people who are using law to fight against this threat. You will hear from lawyers, civil society actors, and academics who are working to assist small states and territories and the different tools (both legal and non-legal) they are deploying against the impact of climate change.
2024 has been dubbed "The Year of Climate" as multiple courts around the world are due to issue judgments on climate change cases. Key cases to be discussed include the small Pacific state of Vanuatu's application for an advisory opinion to the International Court of Justice, Antigua and Barbuda's role in the Commission on Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law 's request for an advisory opinion from the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea, and the work of the local community in the Dutch Caribbean territory of Bonaire in bringing a case against the government of the Netherlands.
No less important are the many organisations and institutions that are supporting climate change litigation. This conference features three organisations working in this field: the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, which has devised a corporate climate change toolbox, the Climate Change Legal Initiative, and Resilient and Sustainable Islands Initiative.
The opening address will be made by Mr Unnikrishnan Nair, Head of Climate Change Division, Commonwealth Secretariat. As home to the great majority of the world's small states, the Commonwealth Secretariat is at the forefront of initiatives relating to climate change and to secure justice for small states.
Times: 6 PM -7 PM, followed by a drinks and canapes reception from 7 PM - 8 PM.
The conference will be followed by the launch of F Sindico, K McKenzie, G Medici-Colombo and L Wegener (eds) Research Handbook on Climate Change Litigation (Edward Elgar, June 2024).
This Research Handbook provides a comprehensive depiction of the various stages, opportunities and challenges of climate change litigation at national and international levels from an innovative practice-oriented perspective. Bringing together expert authors from a range of legal backgrounds, it features contributions not only from experienced academics researching in the field, but also from strategic planning specialists and legal coordinators for organizations involved in climate-related litigation.