Climate

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

The International Bar Association (IBA) has published a model statute aimed at helping citizens launch legal challenges against governments for failing to take action over climate change. The Model Statute for Proceedings Challenging Government Failure to Act on Climate Change was launched in London

Environmentalists at Yale Law School have joined peers at Harvard Law School in a campaign targeting recruitment events for Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP until the international law firm drops ExxonMobil as a client. The firm, which employs over 1,000 lawyers, has successfully def

Law firms Leman Solicitors and Mason Hayes & Curran (MHC) have been named as finalists at the Green Awards 2020. The awards, now in their 12th year, recognise the contribution and commitment of businesses to a greener future.

The Government's commitment to achieve a net zero carbon footprint by 2050 will be enshrined in new legislation. The proposed heads of the Climate Change (Amendment) Bill will be considered by Cabinet before Christmas, the minister for climate action, Richard Bruton, has confirmed.

The Metropolitan Police unlawfully banned London protests by environmental movement Extinction Rebellion last month, the High Court in London has ruled. Judges said the "Extinction Rebellion Autumn Uprising" did not qualify as a "public assembly" within the meaning of the Public Order Act 1986 becau

Suryapratim Roy, associate professor at TCD School of Law, considers climate change within the context of human rights law. Samuel Moyn, a Yale historian, finds human rights to be “unambitious in theory and ineffectual in practice”. The argument goes that over the last half-century, they

A new group of women lawyers is reaching out to environmental NGOs to find out how they can best contribute their legal experience to the fight against climate change.

An environmental activist network has been granted an order setting aside secondary legislation which amended the regulation of large-scale peat extraction. Finding that the amended legislation was inconsistent with EU environmental law, Mr Justice Garrett Simons also found that the use of secondary

A group of 16 young people, including Swedish school strike activist Greta Thunberg, have brought a legal complaint to the UN over five countries' inaction on climate change. The children, all under 18 and one as young as eight years old, have brought a petition against Argentina, Brazil, France, Ge

A UK Supreme Court justice has suggested laws could be introduced forcing companies to appoint a “designated board member for environmental impact issues” to make directors pay more attention to climate issues. Lord Sales made the comments in a speech entitled "Directors’ duties an

Former President Mary Robinson's speech to the Irish Women Lawyers Association (IWLA) AGM has been published online. Mr Robinson discussed her new book, Climate Justice, at association's AGM last month.

Arthur Cox has become one of the first professional services firms in Ireland to secure what is currently the highest international standard for certification of energy management. The firm has achieved ISO50001:2018 Energy System certification through its commitment to making efficient use of energ