Launch Event: Putting the Power of the Law Behind Climate Justice

Lawyers Against Poverty (LAP), Simmons & Simmons, The Alliance for Lawyers at Risk, Action4Justice and Peace Brigades International UK are pleased to launch a new Legal Empowerment project designed to bridge the gap between grassroots human, environmental and climate justice movements and the international legal community, in order to build coordinated and multidisciplinary approaches to global environmental issues.

Join us on 25th October for an exclusive screening of “In Defense of our Lands”, featuring the courageous fight of Latin American environmental defenders to protect their water supplies and natural resources followed by a Q&A expert discussion to learn more about how threats posed by climate change can be seen as a human rights issue, and how evolving environmental legal precedents globally are expanding the scope of environmental law to include our collective duty to protect planet earth and to hold governments and corporations to account.

The panel will also discuss the role that the legal community can play in exploring innovative solutions across jurisdictions jointly with grassroots environmental defenders, how international lawyers can get involved, actively widen access to international and regional legal protection frameworks, address the implementation gaps and enable potential systemic changes, and how the rapid transfer of legal knowledge and strategies should be seen as a must in light of the increasing urgency of the climate crisis.

Through this work, we aim to build a new international legal network that will build stronger, more diverse and multidisciplinary approaches to the prevention of business and State-led human and environmental rights abuses, rooted in community knowledge and vision, and in collaboration with those with the best access to legal opportunities and international mechanisms.

More about this project

(Visit the project website)

As world leaders prepare for the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference, which aims to accelerate action to-wards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, civil society is gearing up to ensure the human and environmental rights agreements and decisions made are implemented. This is a critical time for climate and environmental discussions and solutions, as opportunities for grassroots movements to hold corporations and States accountable continue to emerge.

Human and environmental rights defenders are part of the solution. They are the ones legally challenging injustices in high-risk environments, frequently without the sustained support of legal experts or the broader international legal community. They are bringing cases that could create structural changes at the national and international level. However, all too often, short term gains come at the cost of long-term strategic approaches, because the consolidation of knowledge has been limited by the ad-hoc nature of defenders’ interactions, and their lack of access to the legal and financial resources and mechanisms that international lawyers are privilege to.

As more and more communities throughout the world take up the fight for their rights and the protection of the Earth, how can we guarantee the global support of those who believe in their cause? How can we ensure that the international legal community have access to the invaluable knowledge and expertise of communities at the grassroots? And how can we ensure that the defenders have access to the opportunities and mechanisms of the international community?

This project aims to support a global community of defenders across four continents, creating collaborative learning spaces so they can connect, share insights, test strategies, and increase their impact. Through a global network of legal empowerment hubs, we will embed practical strategies in communities by harnessing the power of the law to existing grassroots movements. Crucially, defenders will also be able to locate peers who have experienced similar issues, draw on expertise from around the world, and cooperate on solutions to local issues. Through this networked approach, we aim create a horizontal dialogue that connects human, environmental, and climate justice movements, victims of abuses, and lawyers around the world, to provide critically needed peer-to-peer support.

More about the project partners

Lawyers Against Poverty (LAP) is a growing movement of lawyers and members of the wider legal community committed to using the skills and resources within it to fight the injustice of poverty. We recognise the power of the law and the skills lawyers have in combating the injustices that keep people in poverty. We work by strengthening ties within the legal community, sharing insights on legal innovation and taking action through our Justice Fund and volunteering programmes to achieve our mission. Our vision is to build a global legal community effective in using the power of the law to fight for equality around the world.

A4J is a global civil society platform that was formed by a coalition of NGOs including Greenpeace, Oxfam, Transparency International, the Forest People’s Programme and IHRDA. It seeks to build capacity, redistribute legal knowledge, create partnerships between legal activists, and empower communities through the creation of an informative platform to improve access to justice by providing practical advice on how legal action can be used for social and environmental justice.

PBI UK is a world-leading NGO working to protect human rights defenders. We provide life-saving support in some of the world's most dangerous countries. We build the skills and resilience of human rights defenders through legal capacity building, which we facilitate through our international community of lawyers. PBI defends the defenders. On the ground we provide direct protection and support, to keep defenders alive and help their activism thrive. Our international volunteers accompany at-risk activists, standing shoulder to shoulder with them in a display of solidarity that deters violent attacks. In addition, unlike other organisations in this space, we also provide longer-term support – from security monitoring and psychological assistance, to communications and capacity-building training.

Simmons & Simmons LLP is an international law firm. The Company provides legal advises to asset management and investment funds, energy and infrastructure, financial institutions, life sciences, technology, media, and telecommunications sectors. Over the past four years they have developed the Human Rights Defenders Toolbox, which provides legal tools for defenders working in Latin America.

The Alliance for Lawyers at Risk is an independent UK-based pro-bono network, founded in 2010, that provides moral and legal support to lawyers and human rights defenders working in precarious circumstances. The Alliance supports the work of PBI and other organisations. The Alliance was founded in 2010 by former high court of appeal Sir Henry Brooke and is currently under the leadership of Sir Patrick Elias. Since 2021 it has been providing legal expertise, protection and support to the human rights defenders around the world.