Doughty Street’s Climate and Environmental Justice group brings together barristers from across a range of Chambers’ core practice areas, pooling existing specialisms to respond comprehensively to a crisis which is global, multifaceted and complex. The climate and ecological emergency is profoundly influencing the application and understanding of existing legal norms, and Doughty Street’s CEJ group is well placed to advise and act in climate litigation domestically and abroad. Doughty Street Chambers’ commitment to environmental and climate justice is long-standing, as is the climate literacy of its members. The multidisciplinary CEJ group brings together barristers working across a number of areas of law to offer innovative and cross-cutting solutions to address matters ranging from mitigation and adaptation to climate inequality and biodiversity loss to defending the rights of climate and environmental justice campaigners.
Members of Doughty Street’s CEJ group are committed to relying on the law and rule of law to put people and planet first. They are engaged in a wide range of contentious and advisory work with an environmental/climate angle which includes, but is not limited to:
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Defending the freedom of expression and protest rights of climate activists;
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Resisting prosecutions against environmental NGOs which are not in the public interest;
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Representing small island states before international courts;
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Acting to defend the human rights of the most vulnerable and marginalised globally and internationally;
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Advising UNFCCC bodies on the intersection between law and climate governance;
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Representing children and young persons before the European Court of Human Rights in landmark claim Duarte Agostinho & Ors v Portugal & 32 Other States App no. 39371/20;
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Representing affected communities in tort-based challenges against large corporate actors, as well as in OECD complaints and other business & human rights challenges, domestically and abroad.
Doughty Street’s CEJ group is further strengthened by the research and advocacy of its members and their innovative legal strategies. Associate Tenants contribute to Doughty Street’s specialism on the intersection between environment, climate and law. For instance, Keina Yoshida’s academic work focuses on the intersection between gender and climate, and Nicolas Angelet was recently involved in the European Court proceedings that validated EU measures regarding new generation "forever chemicals" and leads a course on “International Law and the Climate Crisis”.
The CEJ group’s commitment to the legal fight against climate change is illustrated by its members’ work in greening Chambers, in founding the Bar Sustainability Alliance and Bar Council Climate Crisis Working Group, as well as by their work for Extinction Rebellion, Plan B, the Chancery Lane Project and Share Action and as trustees of organisations such as WWF UK and the Corporate Justice Coalition. Doughty Street members appear regularly in panels and discussions focusing on climate and biodiversity law.
Should you be interested in instructing members of Doughty Street’s CEJ group please contact Callum Stebbing or Naomi Smith.
