Tom looks with barrister Margherita Cornaglia and solicitor Sahil Kher at the law on climate change. What exactly is "climate change law" and what are its elements? If the issue is international, how do domestic legal systems cope; and is it right that UK courts have recently shown a greater willingness to scrutinise Governmental decisions on climate?
Tom also talks to the disability rights campaigner Doug Paulley about the effect of climate change on the disabled and his litigation against the UK Government.
Sahil Kher is a senior associate at Kingsley Napley working on a range of public law but with particular expertise environmental and climate change judicial reviews, having worked on some of the highest-profile recent cases before the English courts. In a previous role at a prominent non-governmental organisation, he worked closely with community groups impacted by the effects of climate change, as well as journalists and NGOs at the frontline of advocacy on climate change and environmental issues.
Margherita Cornaglia is a barrister specialising in climate and environmental law and litigation. Her practice spans both public law and private domestic and transnational environmental law. She currently acts as junior counsel to Doug Paulley in litigation against the UK Government; represents a State and various NGOs in climate advisory proceedings respectively before the international court of justice and the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights; and still manages to find the time to work with lawyers, scientists and journalists in Italy, her home country, where she hopes to incentivise greater public and legal engagement with the climate crisis.