Climate

An oil giant has been ordered to cut its global carbon emissions in a landmark ruling involving 17,000 co-plaintiffs. Royal Dutch Shell was ordered by a court in The Hague to lower its emissions by 45 per cent by the end of 2030 as compared with 2019 levels in a case brought by Friends of the Earth.

Dr Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and adjunct professor of climate justice at Trinity College Dublin, will deliver the opening presentation of the Law Society of Ireland's new five-week online course on climate justice. Over 2,600 people have registered for the Law Society's seventh mass

This year's recipients of the memorial bursary established in the memory of the late Arthur Cox partner Niamh Burke are Laura Nagle and Criodán Ó Murchú. The annual bursary is administered by Wind Energy Ireland and offers up to €50,000 to individuals wishing to study

ByrneWallace LLP has been named as a sponsor of the inaugural Dublin Climate Dialogues, a virtual conference for global policy-makers and opinion formers ahead of the COP26 summit. Taking place later this month, the event will bring together senior government representatives from the US, China, Euro

Arthur Cox LLP, one of Ireland's largest law firms, has announced a commitment to become carbon neutral this year and carbon negative by 2025. The firm's new carbon reduction strategy will see it reduce its carbon footprint by 50 per cent of 2018 levels by 2025, while taking additional measures to o

The government's revised climate legislation still lacks the ambition needed to address wider issues of inequality, Community Law & Mediation (CLM) has said. Ministers this week approved the final text of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021, which will now be intr

A new Centre for Environmental Justice aimed at protecting communities from disadvantage as a result of climate change has been launched by Community Law & Mediation (CLM). Mary Robinson, former Irish president and adjunct professor for climate justice at Trinity College Dublin, welcomed the "ti

A new report published by Eversheds Sutherland in partnership with KPMG IMPACT highlights the need for companies to take greater account of climate risk and move towards decarbonisation. The Climate Change and Corporate Value: What Companies Really Think report collates the views of 500 corporate le

Green Party NI leader Clare Bailey MLA has laid a new Climate Change Bill, submitted to the Northern Ireland Assembly. The draft legislation has been drawn together by a coalition of legal professionals, scientists, academics and environmental organisations and comes on the back of months of behind

Government plans to make Ireland "climate neutral by 2050" are set to be enshrined in law under a new bill published today. The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2020 establishes a 2050 emissions target and introduces a system of successive five-year, economy-wide carbon bud

Arthur Cox has become the first Irish law firm to join the Sustainable Recruitment Alliance (SRA), a group of companies committed to a more eco-friendly approach to talent recruitment. Members of the SRA, which was launched last month by international law firm Clifford Chance and UK communications a

A group of six children and young adults from Portugal are taking 33 countries, including the United Kingdom, to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) over the current climate change crisis. The group, whose ages range from eight to 21, are taking 33 countries to the ECtHR to ask that the court

Dr Thomas Muinzer of Aberdeen Law School in Scotland comments on the Supreme Court's recent squashing of the government's climate change plan. I have talked multiple times in print and in lectures of Ireland’s need to live up to the distinguished legacy of John Tyndall (1820–1893),

The Supreme Court has quashed the Government’s National Mitigation Plan to meet the National Transition Objective (NTO) in combating climate change on the grounds that it is “excessively vague and aspirational”. The Chief Justice Mr Justice Frank Clarke, giving the judgment of the

The government's statutory plan for tackling climate change has been quashed by the Supreme Court following a challenge from Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE). Delivering the judgment of the court this morning, Chief Justice Frank Clarke said the National Mitigation Plan did not meet the requir