Public Launch of the Global Toolbox on Corporate Climate Litigation (Hybrid)

Event Details

The purpose of BIICL's Global Toolbox on Corporate Climate Litigation (the "Toolbox") is to make corporate climate litigation speedier, more efficient, more effective and more predictable, so claims can be adjudicated on with the minimum delay.

This launch event will showcase the Toolbox and outline its forthcoming dissemination as well as future avenues for expansion and development of the project. The Toolbox comprises an inventory of substantive and procedural provisions, decisions, arguments and ideas relevant to climate change cases involving private actors, to be used as legal models by policymakers, judges and legal practitioners. This will inform litigants of similarities and differences among legal systems, taking into consideration causes of action, procedures and remedies that might be adapted to other jurisdictions. It will facilitate effective and speedy corporate climate litigation by legal practitioners and civil society groups, highlighting the elements they can use in their legal system. It will also provide the corporate world with an understanding of their exposure to this kind of litigation and encourage them to foster the necessary transition to Net Zero.

The project has gathered a working network of 200 experts from legal practice, academia, judiciary, science and economics, representing 17 jurisdictions. The team has mapped existing cases and undertaken a comparative analysis of legislation and regulations as well as legal scholarship and practice. They have identified causes of action, procedures and evidence, as well as the legal arguments deployed by claimants and defendants, and the remedies used or usable which might make litigation speedier. Other kinds of successful litigation (e.g., asbestos, tobacco, toxic torts, etc.) has been examined to provide lessons learned for future cases, taking into account the current hurdles and obstacles encountered by claimants in different legal systems.

Core Group members and national rapporteurs representing some of the 17 countries involved in the project will highlight some of the findings and potential application in the current legal landscape. They will stress the project importance and how it has the potential to change the future of corporate climate litigation.

Introduction:

• The Rt Hon the Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, Arbitrator, One Essex Court, President of BIICL, President of BIICL and former President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom

Opening Remarks:

• Prof. David Boyd, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment and Associate Professor, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia

 Speakers:

• Prof. Pauline Abadie, Associate Professor of Law and Member of IDEP (Institute of Ethical Heritage Law), Paris-Saclay University (France Rapporteur)
• Prof. Elbert de Jong, Professor of Private Law, Utrecht University Centre for Accountability and Liability Law and Molengraaff Institute for Private Law (Netherlands Rapporteur)
  
• Prof. Michael Gerrard, Andrew Sabin Professor of Professional Practice, and Director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia Law School (Core Group Member)
  
• Prof. Mathilde Hautereau-Boutonnet, Professor of Private Law and Researcher in Environmental Law, Aix-Marseille University, and Visiting Research Fellow, BIICL (France Rapporteur)
  
• Dr. Masako Ichihara, JSPS Fellow/Researcher at Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto, Japan (Japan Rapporteur)
• Dr. Omondi Owino, Senior Lecturer, JKUAT School of Law, Nairobi, and Head of Environment, Energy and Climate Change Law, Acorn Law Advocates (Kenya Rapporteur)
  
• Prof. Dr Madhuri Parikh, Director and Dean of the Institute of Law, Nirma University (India Rapporteur)
  
• Prof. Jacqueline Peel, Professor of Law at Melbourne Law School and Director of Melbourne Climate Futures, University of Melbourne (Australia Rapporteur and Core Group Member)
  
• Prof. Attilio Pisanò, Professor of Legal Philosophy and Human Rights, University of Salento (Italy Rapporteur)
• Prof. Tianbao Qin, Luojia Professor of Law and Director of the Research Institute of Environmental Law (RIEL), School of Law, Wuhan University (China Rapporteur and Core Group Member)
  
• Prof. Annalisa Savaresi, Professor of Law, University of Stirling, and Associate Professor, Center for Climate Change, Energy and Environmental Law (UEF) (Core Group Member)
• Dr. Sophia Schwemmer, Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute for Foreign and International Private and Business Law, University of Heidelberg (Germany Rapporteur)
• Prof. Michael Tiu, Assistant Professor, University of the Philippines College of Law, and Member of the Philippine Working Group on Business and Human Rights (Philippines Rapporteur)
  

Co-Chairs:

• Dr. Ivano Alogna, Research Leader in Environmental and Climate Change Law, BIICL and Project Lead
• Nigel Pleming KC, Barrister, 39 Essex Chambers and Honorary Senior Fellow, BIICL (Chair of Core Group)