Planning reform resourcing and environmental protections crucial to public interest
The Law Society of Ireland is hosting its first Climate Justice Conference - Policies and Actions for a Climate Responsive Justice Sector – tomorrow, Monday 6 November.
Up to 150 members of the legal community are expected at the Conference which will be held in Blackhall Place in Dublin.
The Conference, which is being led by the Law Society’s recently established Environmental and Planning Law Committee, is the latest in a series of policy and law-reform conferences from the Law Society on priority access-to-justice issues. It will hear from leading domestic and international legal experts in climate and environmental justice, discussing a range of issues including the (DRAFT) Planning and Development Bill 2023, biodiversity and the climate crisis, ethics and climate conscious lawyering, and climate litigation.
Speakers will include Dr Matej Accetteo, President of the Constitutional Court of Slovenia and law lecturer, who is expert in fundamental rights (constitutional) adjudication, and citizenship and will discuss the impact of climate change on future generations; Gerry Liston, Senior Lawyer with Global Legal Action Network who worked on Youth4ClimateJustice an unprecedented climate action lawsuit taken by six Portuguese young people against 33 States which was heard by the European Court of Human Rights in September 2023; Rachel Minch SC, Partner at Philip Lee LLP, Chair of the Law Society Environmental and Planning Law Committee, will discuss the Draft Planning and Development Bill; and Dr Brian MacSharry, Head of Group of Biodiversity at the European Environment Agency, Copenhagen.
Mark Garrett, Director General of the Law Society, said; “The legal profession has a fundamental role to play in mitigating the climate crisis and strengthening climate justice, through its work upholding the rule of law and providing access to justice. The Law Society also has an important role to play, working with Government and policy makers to strengthen environmental protection and advance reforms to planning legislation. The establishment of our Environmental and Planning Law Committee this year, and this Conference, are illustrative of the importance we place on making a meaningful contribution to what is the most critical issue of our time.”
Zoe Richardson, Partner in Public and Regulatory Law at Fieldfisher and member of the Law Society’s Environmental and Planning Law Committee, said; “It is critical that legislation is put in place that ensures protections for our environment and effective public participation in the planning process, while at the same time facilitating necessary development. In order for all of these to happen efficiently and effectively, our planning system must also be appropriately resourced, in the public interest. This is the task faced by Government currently, as we approach a period of significant change in planning legislation, and an era of increased extreme weather conditions caused by climate change. We must work together as a profession, and society, to mitigate climate change, for future generations.”
The Law Society of Ireland Climate Justice Conference - Policies and Actions for a Climate Responsive Justice Sector – will take place in Blackhall Place in Dublin from 2pm – 6pm, tomorrow Monday 6 November 2023.
