Avsnitt
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In this episode, Matthew McFeeley, a partner at Richard Buxton Solicitors discusses the legal implications of the Government’s drive for green energy with Celia Reynolds, a barrister at 39 Essex Chambers specialising in public and environmental law. Matthew and Celia discuss the changes introduced by the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025, updates to the process for challenging DCOs, and the recommendations made in the Fingleton Review.
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At the global level, it is estimated that aviation accounts for 2.4% of annual anthropogenic CO₂ emissions and 4% of anthropogenic global heating up to 2021. As the sector continues to grow, those impacts will increase, and by 2050, aviation could be responsible for around 22% of CO₂ emissions alone. In this episode, Steph David discusses the problem of emissions from aviation, how those emissions can be mitigated and the role the law can play in that mitigation with three experts in the field:
Ali Warrington, Head of Aviation, Energy and Heat at Possible, a climate campaigning organisationAlex Chapman, Senior Economist at the New Economics Foundation leading up their programme on air transport and tourismDavid Kay, Legal Director at Opportunity Green, an organisation focussing on bold and fair solutions to address climate change.The panel discuss the current policy approach to decarbonise aviation, aviation taxation and legal barriers to its reform, the role of carbon pricing, the international nature of aviation and non-CO₂ emissions.
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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In the first episode of 2026, Ruth Chambers, Senior Fellow at Green Alliance returns to discuss the UK Government’s assessment of global biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse with Flora Curtis, barrister at 39 Essex Chambers.
Published in January following an initially unsuccessful freedom of information request made in late 2025, the report examines the global ecosystems most critical to the UK and the risks that their collapse could pose to national security. Ruth explains the purpose of the assessment, its key findings, and what the impact of its publication has been both domestically and internationally.
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In this special end-of-year episode, 39 Essex Chambers' barrister Ella Grodzinski and Anna Tranter of Irwin Mitchell look back at the key climate caselaw developments of the year.
Costs & Aarhus protections:
R (Badger Trust and Wild Justice) v Natural England [2025] EWHC 2761 (Admin)Green Lane Association v Central Bedfordshire Council [2025] EWHC 2251 (Admin)Finch developments:
Greenpeace Ltd & Uplift v Advocate General for Scotland [2025] CSOH 10R (Boswell) v Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero [2025] EWCA Civ 669Aviation:
R (Luton and District Association) v Secretary of State for Transport [2025] EWHC 3206 (Admin)R (Possible & Group for Action on Leeds Bradford Airport) v Secretary of State for Transport [2025] EWHC 1101 (Admin)Additionally, they also share a look ahead to key cases in 2026, including the Foodrise Supreme Court appeal, Gatwick's second runway challenge, and emerging corporate accountability claims.
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39 Essex Chambers' barrister Christopher Moss discusses the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (“UK ETS”) with Dr Diana Casey, the Executive Director of Energy and Climate change at the Mineral Products Association, a board member of the Emissions Trading Group, and chair of the Emissions Trading System Policy group for the Emissions Trading Group.
Dr Casey provides an overview of the UK ETS, its scope and purpose in achieving Net Zero before discussing opportunities and challenges, as well as how to measure the success of the UK ETS.
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39 Essex Chambers' barrister Celia Reynolds talks to Professor Paul Fennell, professor of clean energy at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London.
His work encompasses the decarbonisation and re-thinking of industrial processes, including the production of iron and steel and cement manufacture. He also works in the broader field of industrial decarbonisation, including synergies between industry and power generation.
In this episode, Professor Fennell provides an introduction to Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS). He further discusses the challenges and opportunities for CCUS in the green energy transition.
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39 Essex Chambers' barrister Flora Curtis talks to Nikki Reisch, Director of the Climate and Energy Programme at the Center for International Environmental Law, and Lucy Maxwell, Co-Director of the Climate Litigation Network, about the ICJ Advisory Opinion on climate change handed down on 23 July 2025.
Nikki discusses the background to the case and its origins in the work of Pacific Island students. Nikki then discusses the ICJ's conclusion on whether the interpretive principle of lex specialis is relevant to States' climate change obligations. Lucy sets out the ICJ's key findings on the question of States' obligations under international law when it comes to the issue of climate change, both under the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement and more broadly. Nikki and Lucy then discuss the Court's conclusions on the legal consequences for States who fail to comply with their international obligations on climate change, before considering the likely impact of the ICJ's decision.
Correction Note: At 25:19 “the State” should say “the Court”. At 28:17 and 38:41 Nikki’s observations were related to continued statehood in the face of sea level rise and not shifting maritime boundaries, reflective of the Court’s observation that sea level rise does not legally affect maritime boundaries or statehood. At 44:05, Nikki’s comment related to a request that has been made to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, not from which a request has been made.
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Tessa Khan is the Executive Director at Uplift, a climate action organisation that supports efforts to transition rapidly and fairly away from oil and gas production in the UK. In this episode, she discusses a number of different legal developments to facilitate that transition, including the landmark legal case relating to the Jackdaw and Rosebank oil fields, following Sarah Finch’s successful case in the Supreme Court, as well as the new guidance, published last month, on how scope 3 emissions arising from the downstream combustion of the hydrocarbons should be assessed in the context of the proposed offshore oil and gas projects, and the potential role of the North Sea Transition Authority in facilitating that transition. She also sets out the role of litigation in shedding light on the windfall tax on the oil and gas industry.
You can find out more about Uplift here: https://www.upliftuk.org/
You can access the Jackdaw and Rosebank decisions, here; the link to the Government’s new guidance on assessing scope 3 emissions, here; and the Government’s consultation on, among other things, NSTA’s principal objective in the Petroleum Act 1998, here.
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39 Essex Chambers' barrister Steph David talks with Sinead Murray, General Counsel of Ofgem, who explains the key and expanding role that Ofgem plays in driving the transition to a net zero future in the energy sector.
She explains Ofgem’s role in administering various schemes to incentivise a transition to low carbon technology, and its role in regulating licensed gas and electricity suppliers, networks and infrastructure.
She sets out the diversification of Ofgem’s powers as the energy sector diversifies to meet the challenge of net zero, including through carbon capture and storage and hydrogen; and how Ofgem works alongside the new entity, National Energy System Operator (NESO).
Sinead then discusses the importance of Ofgem’s principal objective, in particular, protecting the interests of existing and future energy consumers, which is now defined to include assisting the Secretary of State in achieving the net zero targets set out in the Climate Change Act 2008.
She also gives an interesting example of Ofgem funding changes in relation to the use of gas, SF6, as part of Ofgem discharging its statutory obligation.
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Peter Carter discusses how businesses should be thinking about, and approaching, climate risk and building resilience into their business models. He explains the necessity of an holistic approach, considering not only the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, but also approaching climate risks as a dynamic system to assess where the risks lie, such as to physical assets and supply chains, and how those risks should be financed. The approach also allows businesses to seize opportunities presented by climate risk. He uses incredibly helpful sector-specific examples and explains how WTW could assist firms. He also considers the role of regulations in managing those risks.
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In this episode, Sarah Finch, behind the groundbreaking Supreme Court case in R (Finch) v Surrey County Council [2024] P.T.S.R. 988, talks about the immediate effects of the judgment for fossil fuel development elsewhere in the country before considering the wider impacts on other sectors. She then shares her experience in bringing a case like this and sets out what she sees as the greatest barrier to addressing climate change.
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On 20 June 2024, the Supreme Court handed down its judgment in R (Finch) v Surrey County Council [2024] P.T.S.R. 988 in which the majority found that the grant of planning permission for oil production in Horse Hill, Surrey, was unlawful, because the environmental impact assessment had not assessed the downstream greenhouse gas emissions from the combustion of the oil. There has been a significant amount of legal commentary on the case, but who is Sarah Finch, the campaigner behind the case, and the Weald Action Group? What does she think about the judgment? In this episode, Sarah sets out her background and her passion for the environment and climate, and the other campaigns of the Weald Action Group, before delving into her thoughts on the judgment.
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On 3 May 2024, the UK’s plan to meet the Sixth Carbon Budget set under the Climate Change Act 2008 (‘CCA 2008’) was declared unlawful for the second time by the High Court J in R (Friends of the Earth & Oths) v Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero [2024] EWHC 995 (Admin). In this episode, junior counsel for Friends of the Earth, Catherine Dobson, of 39 Essex Chambers, sets out the context of the judgment, the issues and the broader implications of this case. She considers in depth the nature of the analysis required of the Secretary of State under section 13(1) and (3) of the CCA 2008, as well as the information that the Secretary of State is required to include in its report laid before Parliament, pursuant to section 14 of the CCA 2008, to ensure transparency and accountability in relation to climate policy.
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Ruth Chambers, Senior Fellow at Green Alliance, discusses the Office for Environmental Protection’s recent annual statutory report, published on 18 January 2023, and shares her views, more generally, on the role and effectiveness of the Environment Act 2021 in achieving its goals in relation to the natural environment, particularly those relating to climate change mitigation and adaptation. Ruth played a key role in the development of the Environment Act when the Bill was being debated in Parliament.
The OEP’s report can be accessed, here.
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Dr Alex Lee delves further into the role of the precautionary principle in the context of climate modelling to assess resilience – essential in adapting to climate change. He considers the case study of landfill sites and caps; and how their vulnerability to climate change should be analysed. Alex then explains how the precautionary principle can be an effective tool before considering more generally how biases in risk assessment can be addressed.
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Climate modelling is growing in importance in disputes, such as investor state disputes concerned with climate attribution. Dr Alex Lee, Chartered Geologist and Scientist, head of the environmental and climate change team at HKA, explains how climate modelling works and sets out his experience involving, for example, nuclear waste, power stations in coastal locations, and groundwater contamination. He also sets out the complexities of such models and the need for standardisation. He considers the role and importance of the precautionary principle, particularly in conditions of uncertainty.
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The Lifescape Project is concerned with creating a world rich in wild landscapes through a multi-disciplinary approach. Elsie Blackshaw-Crosby, Managing Lawyer at the charity, discusses her journey and how she ended up working with the project before setting out, in more detail, how the charity uses the law to achieve its objectives. Elsie also discusses the charity’s recently issued judicial review challenge to the Government’s Biomass Strategy, explaining why the charity is concerned about the strategy, in particular its implications for climate change and biodiversity, and how the claim has been formulated.
You can access the Lifescape Project’s Rewilding Law Hub here; a legal briefing on the Biomass Strategy challenge here and a scientific briefing on biomass and biomass energy with carbon capture and storage (“BECCS”) here.
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Whilst recognising the importance of renewable energy sources, Paul Redington, regional major loss property claims manager at Zurich, emphasises the need to be aware of the risks associated with sustainable energy source; and consider how they should be managed and mitigated. In this episode, Paul focuses on the rise in electrical fires from solar panels in both residential and commercial settings. He explains the likely causes of these fires and how they can be addressed, including through legal developments.
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Whilst there has been a shift in the UK to less meat and dairy consumption, globally the amount consumed is only likely increase. A significant proportion of animal feed is soya, which is imported from South America. Rachel O’Connor explains why using insect protein as animal feed makes sense from a land use, climate change, biodiversity and food system perspective. She sets out the regulatory framework for animal feed in the UK; and the legal barriers to the wider adoption of insects as an important source of protein.
Rachel O’Connor is a partner in the agriculture team at Michelmores, specialising in sustainable agriculture practices such as insects as feed and food. Rachel led a team of lawyers advising on the legal aspects of the World Wildlife Fund’s roadmap to accelerating insect protein in UK feeds.
#ClimateChange #InsectProtein #AnimalFeed #SustainableAgriculture
Resources: You can access the WWF report here; and articles by Rachel O’Connor, here.
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In the last episode, David Rouch provided an overview of a report that he co-authored, entitled “A Legal Framework For Impact: Sustainability Impact in Investor Decision-making” – a report commissioned by UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative, Principles for Responsible Investment and The Generation Foundation and published by Freshfields. In this part, he discusses the impact of the report on financial services; and how the law in England and Wales is developing to facilitate this kind of investing. He also sets out what he sees as the greatest barriers to making finance flows consistent with the goals in the Paris Agreement.
David Rouch is a financial services partner at Freshfields with expertise in sustainable investing.
Resources: You can access the “Legal Framework for Impact” report, here. You can learn more about David’s work, here.
- Visa fler
