Lawyers Are Responsible

Lawyers Are Responsible

Lawyers Are Responsible is a campaign launched on 29 March 2023 when a group of members of the legal profession, having signed a Declaration of Conscience, publicly marked their concern that the climate crisis poses an existential risk to humanity and the rule of law.

As such, as a matter of conscience, they will withdraw their legal services from:

(1) new fossil fuel projects; and,

(2) criminal or civil action against peaceful climate protesters.

Campaign launch

Lawyers Are Responsible campaign begins

On 29 March 2023, barrister Paul Powlesland retweeted a "Lawyers Are Responsible" tweet:

"Incredible action & video officially launching the ‘Lawyers Are Responsible’ campaign; please watch & share.

“Behind every new oil and gas deal sits a lawyer, and behind that lawyer sits a law firm getting rich on those profits while other people die.”

"Lawyers Are Responsible. What will you do?

"Royal Courts of Justice, London"

They launched the Declaration at a demonstration led by Anouchka Grose at 12:30pm outside the Royal Courts of Justice in the heart of legal London.

The Declaration is prompted by the legal profession’s service of the fossil fuel industry. Between 2017 and 2022 the legal sector globally supported at least $1.62 trillion worth of transactions for the fossil fuel industry, and the City of London, where many top law firms and their clients are based, supports at least 15% of global emissions.

This is despite the scientific consensus that breaching the 1.5°C temperature limit established by the Paris Agreement on Climate Change in 2015 will cause mass loss of life and catastrophic harm to the health of millions of human beings and animals. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) ‘final warning’ report of 20 March 2023 emphasised that there is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all and that new fossil fuel supply projects would be inconsistent with the 1.5 ̊C global temperature limit.

The World Health Organization has stated that climate crisis is the biggest single health threat facing humanity. The UK Government has already said:

“The floods and fires we have seen around the world this year will get more frequent and more fierce, crops will be more likely to fail, and sea levels will rise driving mass migration as millions are forced from their homes.

"Above 1.5°C we risk reaching climatic tipping points like the melting of arctic permafrost – releasing millennia of stored greenhouse gases – meaning we could lose control of our climate for good.”

At the same time, peaceful climate protestors drawing attention to the crisis have effectively been silenced by being criminalised. In some trials they have been prevented from telling juries their reasons for protesting. Those who felt compelled to explain these reasons have received sentences of up to 8 weeks for contempt of court.

The signatories to the Declaration include prominent lawyers from the United Kingdom and around the world, including many from countries in the Global South who will face the worst impacts of the climate crisis, such as South Africa, Australia, Mexico, Guyana and the Philippines. The signatories include individuals at all stages of their careers, 7 King’s Counsel, solicitors and barristers, legal academics and students, patent attorneys, paralegals and coordinators of global NGOs, all committed to seeing imminent change in the legal industry.

Melinda Janki, Attorney-at-Law (Guyana) and winner of the 2023 Commonwealth Lawyers Association LexisNexis Rule of Law Award, said:

“I beg my legal colleagues to join me and other lawyers who are on the frontline fighting to uphold the rule of law and protect our countries and planet from the killing effects of fossil fuels. Please take a stand and do not be complicit in ecocide and the inevitable destruction of human lives.”

Jodie Blackstock, barrister, said:

“As a barrister committed to access to justice throughout my career, I have signed the Declaration because humanity has reached a point from which there is no return. Colleagues brokering these deals need to be aware of the consequences. The Rule of Law promotes and protects the rights of the marginalised. It is subverted when those causing the harm go unchallenged but those raising the alarm are criminalised.”

Yves Hayaux du Tilly, Mexican lawyer, partner at Nader, Hayaux & Goebel and signatory to the Declaration, said:

“We cannot reverse the injustice, pain and suffering that has resulted from our horrendous greed and arrogance; however, as members of the legal profession, we can be part of a new beginning. We must challenge well established systems of thought imperilling the very existence of life, dream and create a path to new beginnings, in our lives, profession, communities and in our world.”

Declaration of Conscience

WE, the undersigned members of the legal profession:

BELIEVE IN UPHOLDING THE RULE OF LAW, AS A CORNERSTONE OF SOCIAL STABILITY, PROSPERITY AND DEMOCRATIC VALUES.

NOTE THE UK PARLIAMENT’S DECLARATION OF A CLIMATE EMERGENCY IN 2019 and similar declarations by over 2,000 national and local governments. We also note that in 2021 the International Energy Agency concluded that there could be no new oil or gas fields or coal mines if the world was to reach net zero by 2050, and the UN Secretary General’s statement in April 2022 that “investing in new fossil fuel infrastructure is moral and economic madness”. Despite which, as global carbon emissions from fossil fuels hit record levels in 2022, the UK Government approved a new coal mine in Cumbria and currently plans to issue more than 100 new licences for oil and gas production in the North Sea.

RECOGNISE THAT WE ARE SET TO BREACH THE 1.5C GLOBAL WARMING LIMIT ESTABLISHED BY THE PARIS AGREEMENT ON CLIMATE CHANGE.

PROFOUNDLY REGRET THE DIRE CONSEQUENCES. HM Treasury stated in its Net Zero Review: Interim Report (July 2021) that we face an “existential threat”. Accumulating scientific evidence has conveyed stark warnings of the increasingly severe, interconnected and often irreversible impacts of climate change on ecosystems, biodiversity and human systems. The likely consequences of “overshooting” 1.5C include widespread loss of life and livelihoods, catastrophic harm to health, large scale population displacements and the destruction of critical infrastructure. In the UK alone, we are already seeing unprecedented heat waves, wildfires, flooding and coastal erosion. In other parts of the globe the effects are already far worse. To take but two examples, in East Africa at least 30 million people are facing famine and 2022’s record-breaking floods in Pakistan impacted around 33 million people. Climate change results in climate injustice: lower-income groups and countries and the younger generation have contributed least to climate change but are the most severely affected by it.

EXPRESS OUR GRAVE CONCERN THAT THE ABOVE DEVELOPMENTS POSE A SERIOUS RISK TO THE RULE OF LAW. And note that lawyers who support transactions the effects of which are inconsistent with the 1.5C limit contribute towards the above consequences.

ACCORDINGLY:

(1) WE CALL UPON OUR GOVERNMENT AND OUR COLLEAGUES TO ACT URGENTLY TO DO WHATEVER THEY CAN TO ADDRESS THE CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF THE CLIMATE AND ECOLOGICAL CRISES AND TO ADVANCE A JUST TRANSITION TO SUSTAINABILITY.

(2) WE SUPPORT LAW REFORM AND LITIGATION AIMED AT MITIGATING AND ADAPTING TO THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING. In particular, we support the implementation of the polluter pays principle to correct the market failure that externalises to society the costs of greenhouse emissions created by burning fossil fuels.

(3) WE SUPPORT INDIVIDUALS’ DEMOCRATIC RIGHT OF PEACEFUL PROTEST, IN PARTICULAR PEACEFUL PROTEST AIMED AT DRAWING PUBLIC ATTENTION TO THE CLIMATE CRISIS. And we note with concern the provisions of Part 3 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and the Public Order Bill currently before Parliament that seriously restrict this right.

(4) WE HAVE DONATED, AND WILL CONTINUE TO DONATE, OUR TIME OR MONEY TO THE ABOVE CAUSES AND ENCOURAGE OUR COLLEAGUES TO DO LIKEWISE.

(5) WE DECLARE, IN ACCORDANCE WITH OUR CONSCIENCES, THAT WE WILL WITHHOLD OUR SERVICES IN RESPECT OF:

(i) supporting new fossil fuel projects; and

(ii) action against climate protesters exercising their democratic right of peaceful protest.

Signatories

So far, over 140 lawyers have signed the Declaration of Conscience:

• Sir Geoffrey Bindman KC, Solicitor

• Aoife Fleming, Legal coordinator World’s Youth for Climate Justice

• Tim Hirschel-Burns, Co-founder, Law Students for Climate Accountability

• Prof Leslie Thomas KC, Professor of Law Gresham College and Barrister at Garden Court Chambers

• Imran Khan KC, Lawyer

• Farhana Yamin, Lawyer

• Matt Hutchings KC, Barrister

• Monika Sobiecki, Barrister & Partner, Bindmans LLP

• Jolyon Maugham KC, Barrister & Executive Director, Good Law Project

• Gregg Taylor KC, Barrister (retired)

• Tessa Khan, Executive Director, Uplift

• Fiona McLeod AO KC, King’s Counsel

• Karlia Lykourgou, Barrister

• Audrey Cherryl Mogan, Barrister

• Bill Bowring, Professor of Law, Birkbeck, University of London; Barrister, Field Court Chambers, Gray’s Inn

• Adrian Evans, Professor of Law

• Jodie Blackstock, Barrister

• Helen Curtis, Barrister and Mediator

• Paul Powlesland, Barrister

• Angharad Monk, Barrister

• David James Lintott, Barrister

• David Renton, Barrister

• Nerida Harford-Bell, Barrister

• Frances Webber, Barrister

• Tariq Mehmood Khokhar, Barrister and former university lecturer

• David Watkinson, Barrister (unregistered and non-practising) and Mediator

• Robert Wilson Thomas, Barrister

• Nadia Bernaz, Associate Professor of Law

• Dr Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh, Associate Professor of Sustainability Law

• Esther Stanford-Xosei, Jurisconsult

• Antonio Oposa Jr., Lawyer, the Philippines

• Daniel Machover, Partner, Hickman and Rose solicitors

• Terrence P. Collingsworth, Executive Director of International Rights Advocates

• Prof Andreas Philippopoulos-Mihalopoulos, Professor of Law

• Mr Sabah Al-Mukhtar, Senior Partner/ Arab Lawyers Network

• David Hunter, Senior Counsel

• John Carr OBE, LL.B

• Gita Parihar, Solicitor/Legal consultant

• Roberta Spiteri, Junior Legal Counsel

• Mothiur Rahman, Solicitor & Law Lecturer

• Chiara Macchi, Assistant Professor of Law

• Dan Galpern, General Counsel and Executive Director, CPRClimate.org

• Christoph Schwarte, International environmental lawyer

• Maeve Lucey, Solicitor

• Basmah Sahib, Solicitor

• Melinda Janki, Lawyer

• Joanna Bennett, Solicitor

• Shirin Marker, Solicitor

• Christina Eckes, Professor of European Law, University of Amsterdam

• Declan Owens, Solicitor

• Salima Budhani, Solicitor

• Natalie Barbosa, Solicitor

• Jerome Spaargaren, Patent Attorney

• Ioannis Klaras, PhD Candidate (KU, Law)

• Theodora Middleton, Solicitor

• Tom Goodman, Solicitor

• Robert Atkins, Solicitor

• Joe Snape, Solicitor

• Catherine Jackson, Associate Solicitor

• Rachel Harger, Solicitor

• Julia I L Brown, Retired solicitor

• Lucinda Hall, Solicitor

• Ed Hodgson, Trainee Solicitor

• Martha Jean Baker, Lawyer Retired

• Tino Giglio-Vigna, Retired solicitor

• Riccardo Sallustio, Solicitor

• Etelle Higonnet, Lawyer and campaigner

• Joanna Ford, Solicitor

• Sara T Goodwin, Retired Solicitor

• Olivia Tattarletti, Solicitor (non-practising)

• Paulo Burro, Environmental Consultant, LLB, San Beda College of Law

• Valerie Fajardo, International Climate Lawyer

• Natasha Maugueret, Solicitor

• Lucy O’Brien, Senior Associate Solicitor

• Sandy Abrahams, Partner

• Gearóid Ó Cuinn, Founding Director of the Global Legal Action Network

• Diane Harris, Solicitor

• Yves Hayaux du Tilly, Mexican lawyer

• Paul Ridge, Solicitor

• Louise Christian, Solicitor

• Jules Carey, Solicitor

• Lisa Smith, Solicitor

• Matthew McFeeley, Partner, Richard Buxton Solicitors

• Mike Reed, Criminal law solicitor

• Wendy Pettifer, Retired Solicitor

• Serife Ceren Uysal, Lawyer

• Ümit Büyükdağ, Lawyer

• Robyn Reed, Solicitor

• Ryan Bestford, Solicitor

• Jacqueline Alsaid, Academic Lawyer

• Pia de Keyser, Senior Paralegal

• Adam Marley, Solicitor

• Paul Heron, Solicitor

• Keith Webb, Legal researcher

• Michael Marshall, Solicitor

• Patricia Mitchell, Solicitor

• Peter Lipman, Solicitor

• Feja Lesniewska, Legal academic

• Sejong Yoon, Lawyer

• Vanja Ljujic, LLM

• Eva Sajovic, Master of Laws (LLM)

• Nicola Harries, Solicitor

• Kim Vowden, Solicitor

• Muslim Taseer, Bar Course Student

• Clare Finn, Solicitor (retired)

• Nicole Loser, Attorney (High Court of South Africa)

• James Goldthorpe, Trainee solicitor

• Nicola Cross, Solicitor (retired)

• Jennine Walker, Solicitor

• Crispin B Terry-Pownall, Law Student, Immigration Adviser and Caseworker

• Tomas Alarcon, Lawyer, physicist and PhD Candidate in Law

• Nelson Chege, Environmental Lawyer

• Shay Xiao, Solicitor

• Josh van den Dries, Solicitor (non-practising)

• Brontie Ansell, Senior Lecturer Uni of Essex, Solicitor

• Jenni Ramos, Lawyer

• Lauren Chaplin, Solicitor

• Harry Harris, Pupil Barrister

• Claire Rouse, Legal Officer

• Dean Wallraff, Attorney at Law

• Paul Rink, U.S. Attorney

• Carmen Hall, Trainee Solicitor

• Emma Dauriac, Solicitor

• Ciaran Mulholland, Principal Solicitor

• Andrew Henry James, Retired Solicitor

• Joseph Morgan, Solicitor

• Alured Darlington, Retired Solicitor Advocate

• Joanna Bury, Solicitor

• Stephen Leonard, Lawyer

• Jessica Webster, Trainee Solicitor

• Paddy Friend, Legal Research Assistant

• Abaigeal Van Deerlin, US lawyer

• Luisa Le Voguer, Legal assistant

• Kevin O’Sullivan, Principal of Cycle Legal

• Emma Bland, Solicitor

• Lucy Wilson, Law student

• Ingebjørg Arneberg Stueland, Soon to be lawyer

• Adrian Leander Skagen, Law student

• Brid Breathnach, Solicitor (non practising), Student social worker

• Peter Walker, Solicitor

• Dr Zoi Aliozi, Human Rights Lawyer, Educator and Climate Justice Specialist

• Samantha Velluti, University legal academic

• Paul Taylor, Solicitor

• Santiago Gatica Fernández, Lawyer

• Tim Crosland, ex-Barrister, Director of the charity Plan B Earth

Breaching 1.5˚C

New fossil fuel projects will breach 1.5˚C In 2021 the International Energy Agency concluded that there could be no new oil or gas fields or coal mines if the world was to reach net zero by 2050. The UN Secretary General stated in April 2022 that “investing in new fossil fuel infrastructure is moral and economic madness”.

The most recent report of the IPCC, published in March 2023, makes clear that new fossil fuel projects would be inconsistent with the 1.5˚C limit:

“Projected CO2 emissions from existing fossil fuel infrastructure without additional abatement would exceed the remaining carbon budget for 1.5°C”

What would that mean for us?

Hundreds of millions more at risk by 2050

The difference between 1.5˚C and 2˚C warming (compared to pre-industrial temperatures) may sound small, but in 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (“IPCC”) published a special report on the 1.5˚C goal, which stated:

“[L]imiting global warming to 1.5°C, compared with 2°C, could reduce the number of people both exposed to climate-related risks and susceptible to poverty by up to several hundred million by 2050 …”

1. Threat to global food security

Peer-reviewed research, Increasing risks of multiple breadbasket failure under 1.5 and 2 °C global warming, concludes:

“Risks of simultaneous crop failure … increase disproportionately between 1.5 and 2 °C, so surpassing the 1.5 °C threshold will represent a threat to global food security.”

2. Whole regions of the world will be rendered uninhabitable

According to peer-reviewed research, beyond 1.5˚C warming, tropical regions of the world risk wet bulb temperatures in excess of 35˚C, which is beyond the capacity of the human body to cool itself down and therefore beyond the limit of human endurance. Around 40% of the world’s population currently live in the tropics. Billions of people will face a choice: live where it is no longer safe to live, or leave.

3. Critical tipping points could be passed, leading to a “hothouse earth”

In 2018, leading academics, including Johan Rockstrom and Hans Schellnhuber, considered the temperature threshold for crossing critical tipping points in the climate system in Trajectories of the Earth System in the Anthropocene and concluded:

“Our analysis suggests that the Earth System may be approaching a planetary threshold that could lock in a continuing rapid pathway toward much hotter conditions—Hothouse Earth … Where such a threshold might be is uncertain, but it could be only decades ahead …and … it could be within the range of the Paris Accord temperature targets.”

Statements from British Government and medical profession

The Government’s Net Zero Strategy, published in October 2021, says:

“People are rightly concerned, with the latest IPCC report showing that if we fail to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, the floods and fires we have seen around the world this year will get more frequent and more fierce, crops will be more likely to fail, and sea levels will rise driving mass migration as millions are forced from their homes. Above 1.5°C we risk reaching climatic tipping points like the melting of arctic permafrost – releasing millennia of stored greenhouse gases – meaning we could lose control of our climate for good. But the good news is that there is, still, a path to avoid catastrophic climate change.” [Executive Summary, p.14]

In May 2022, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, published “Climate and Health”, quoting from the medical journal, The Lancet, as follows:

“The science is unequivocal; a global increase of 1.5°C above the pre-industrial average and the continued loss of biodiversity risk catastrophic harm to health that will be impossible to reverse.”

BSB assessing "self-reports"

On 31 March 2023, the Bar Standards Board (BSB) announced that it was assessing "self-reports" from barristers who say they will defy the cab-rank rule.

But regulatory specialists have predicted the BSB is unlikely to take disciplinary action against them until they actually do so.

Some barrister signatories to the widely publicised Declaration of Conscience said they self-reported to the BSB after pledging not to prosecute climate protestors or advise on fossil fuel projects.

At the start of the meeting of the BSB’s main board on March 30, chair Kathryn Stone issued a short statement about the letters received by its director general, Mark Neale:

“It is not, of course, for the board to become involved in such operational matters, but the director general assures me that these reports will simply be assessed in confidence in the usual way,” she said.

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