Missed any of our knowledge sessions? Or perhaps you joined us and want to watch them all over again? Check out overviews and recordings of our past events from 2025 below.
Session recordings are also accessible directly via our YouTube channel.
5 February 2025: AI, the Environment & Law
Led by LVF Member Klara Lee.
Creative content: We began with a group discussion comparing two artworks, one generated by AI and the other created by a human.
Presentation: Klara’s presentation guided us through the definitions that form the foundations of this rapidly evolving technology, and highlighted the tension between the opportunities AI provides and its environmental impacts.
Panel Interview: The session included a panel interview with experts Mika Morisette (Senior Associate specialising in ESG at HSF), Alexander Amato-Cravero (Director of Emerging Technology at HSF) and Bruna Sellin Trevelin (Legal Counsel at Hugging Face).
Recording:
2 April 2025: The Darker Side to ESG
Led by LVF member Charlotte Branfield.
Presentation: Charlotte gave a presentation introducing the audience to the UK’s financial crime legislation which could potentially be used for environmental crimes.
Creative content: We discussed the essay “Keeping the iron from our souls” by John Burroughs, from his essay collection “The Art of Seeing Things” edited by Charlotte Zoe Walker. This essay describes an industrial wasteland in Pittsburgh, and we were asked to consider how businesses might be held to account for what goes on in their supply chain.
Panel interview: The session included a panel interview with experts Olivia Dakeyne (Research Principal at Themis) and Laura Middleton (who leads PwC’s ESG Investigations team).
Recording:
30 April 2025: Protecting the World’s Oceans: the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and Climate Change
Led by LVF Member and Stewardship Committee member Verity Thompson.
Presentation
We discussed what the IMO is, what it does and how it works. Most importantly, we looked at some of the interesting ways it works to protect the worlds’ oceans.
We also discussed the recent carbon tax on shipping that is proposed by the IMO. This would be the world’s first carbon tax on shipping emissions.
Panel Discussion
In this session, session leader Verity Thompson interviewed Michelle Toering Sanders. Michelle is Canada’s representative to the IMO. She is an experienced policy maker and diplomat who is committed to protecting the world’s oceans. Before coming to London to represent Canada at the IMO, Michelle worked in environmental policy for the Canadian federal government. She was responsible for developing and implementing policies and measures to reduce the impacts of marine traffic on endangered whale populations. She worked extensively on underwater vessel noise and helped broker cooperation between diverse actors to implement speed restrictions in certain shipping corridors.
We also heard from Rachel Hoyland. Rachel is a maritime decarbonisation expert at Stephenson Harwood LLP. She helps ship owners, charterers, cargo interests, traders and insurers understand and adapt to evolving emissions regulations.
Creative content
This was our first instance of a song as creative content! We listened to some whale song 🐋 , available on youtube here and here.
Recording
28 May 2025: Scaling nature-based investments through harnessing institutional capital
Led by LVF Members Varnika Chawla and Tasha Lea.
Presentation: Varnika and Tasha began by exploring the urgent need to invest in nature in response to the climate and ecological crises. They introduced the concept of nature-based investments and the challenge of assigning financial value to natural assets. They then explored the key drivers behind the demand for these investments, looking at public interest in sustainable business practices, the rise of compliance markets, and evolving regulatory landscapes.
Their presentation then examined how key regulatory developments intersect with global frameworks like the Paris Agreement and the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). They explored how they assess and ensure the environmental integrity of projects, focusing on legal and due diligence considerations. Finally, they highlighted both the challenges and opportunities ahead in scaling and legitimising investments in natural capital.
Panel Interview: Varnika and Tasha conducted a panel interview featuring three up and coming talents in the field – Sindi Kuci, Prerna Handa, and Renata Campos.
- Sindi Kuci is a Research Consultant at the Oxford Sustainable Finance Group.
- Prerna Hana is an Associate at Linklaters in the Corporate (M&A) Practice, with a focus on sustainable investments and nature-based solutions.
- Renata Campos is an Investment Associate at Climate Asset Management, with experience in deploying capital at scale in emerging markets.
Creative Content: We watched a clip from the “Big Brands’ Green Claims Uncovered” BBC Panorama documentary. We discussed and analysed the claims made about carbon markets in light of what we learned in the presentation and panel discussion (the clip is accessible via this link).
Recording:
2 July 2025: KlimaSeniorinnen: one year on
Led by LVF Members Ginevra Bicciolo, Giulia Trojano and Patrick Kenny
Presentation: the speakers gave a presentation on the landmark decision at the European Court of Human Rights last year, its aftermath, and the landscape for future climate litigation using human rights arguments. They noted some of the key issues and tensions that are coming up in these cases – like intergenerational burden sharing, adaptation vs mitigation, and the fact arguments are often based on health issues. The speakers predicted that future cases will challenge corporations (like the recent Milieudefensie case), that the Aarhus Convention will feature, and carbon capture will increasingly be a focus for claimants.
Panel interview: The Q&A was with experts Mark Willers KC (Garden Court Chambers) who was instructed to act as a leading advocate for the applicants in KlimaSeniorinnen, and Cassie Roddy-Mullineaux (Global Legal Action Network) who is involved in the domestic implementation of the judgment. They talked about their reactions to the decision and what could have been decided or argued differently – with Marc commenting on the potential to use Article 14 ECHR arguments. For all our junior members, it was great to hear about how Marc and Cassie got to this point in their journey – we particularly loved Cassie’s message that there are ways for all of us to educate ourselves about climate change and the individual impact we can make at our organisations, regardless of the type of place we work.
Creative content: this was a short documentary about climate change protest and activism, available here.
22 September 2025: The role of NGOs in driving climate laws
Led by LVF Deputy Chair Dominika Leitane
Presentation: The session started with session lead Dominika (LVF’s Deputy Chair and Legal Officer at Opportunity Green) giving a brief introduction to NGOs and how they function, explaining the importance of having a strong and unique theory of change (a roadmap which details exactly how a project intends to achieve its desired outcomes), and the pressures of seeking funding.
Panel Interview: Our panel then delved into a detailed discussion on the diverse array of legal tools available to lawyers at NGOs wanting to make a meaningful change:
- Sophie Marjanac (Director of Legal Strategy at Polluter Pays Project) spoke about using legal and soft-law levers (including UN Special Procedures) to force oil and gas decommissioning costs back onto industry.
- Ricardo Gama (Partner in the human rights and public law department of Leigh Day) shared his experience of using judicial review as an accountability engine that can surface facts and shift policy even in the face of adverse judgments.
- Guillermo Miranda García (Senior Associate at The Chancery Lane Project) introduced us to the concept of ‘climate-conscious lawyering’ that hard-wires sustainability into everyday client advice, such as M&A deals.
- David Kay (Legal Director at Opportunity Green) mentioned targeted legal interventions, such as ASA greenwashing rulings, that hit the biggest outcome with the smallest levers.
Creative Content: Rory Pilgrim’s interactive exhibition ‘pink & green’ generated interesting discussions about the role of the law in building a better world
Recording:
5 November 2025: Investor-State Arbitration and Climate Challenges
Led by WilmerHale Senior Associate Xiaohan Cai and LVF Stewardship Committee member Carol Yuen
Presentation: The presentation, given by Xiaohan Cai, introduced the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) framework and institutions. It explained the obligations of States to foreign investors (for instance in bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and the Energy Charter Treaty), and how these obligations may conflict with State obligations on climate change.
Panel Interview: our expert panel from private practice and academia discussed the impact of investor-state arbitration on climate change and the environment, and potential reforms in ISDS:
- Judy Fu is a commercial barrister at 3VB with wide litigation and arbitration experience. She has acted in disputes concerning oil and gas (upstream and downstream), renewables, mining and metals, and commodities trading industries.
- Lucia Bizikova is an Associate in the Litigation/Controversy Department and a member of the International Arbitration Practice Group at WilmerHale.
- Dr Oliver Hailes is an Assistant Professor at the LSE Law School where he teaches and researches international law and arbitration, including energy, investment, and environmental law.
- Saadia Bhatty is a Partner and Co-head of Gide’s International Dispute Resolution team in London. She specialises in international arbitration and public international law.
Creative content: We started this session by screening the first 10 minutes of a short documentary called The Tribunal.
Recording:
20 November 2025: Environmental Permitting Regime
Chaired by Nina Pindham
We held LVF’s first ever regional knowledge session on the Environmental Permitting Regime (EPR). The session took place in Bristol and online, and it was a pleasure to collaborate with the UK Environmental Law Association (UKELA)’s South West committee on this event.
Panel interview: During the knowledge session, Nina Pindham expertly chaired a panel of Lord Banner KC, Marcus Reynolds and Jo Pope, who presented their expert takes on the EPR.
Recording:
9 December 2025: Climate Activism in the UK
Led by LVF members Carol Yuen, Tanvi Ajmera and Orla Heatley.
Presentation: The presentation gave a brief introduction to the legal frameworks for climate protest, including a summary of recent reforms and developments in case law. Topics of interest include:
- where climate litigation fits into this wider architecture of activism
- the creation of specific new offences for direct-action methods (such as “locking-on”)
- so-called “persons unknown” injunctions
- the legal significance of offenders’ conscientious motivation
- the right to expression on the streets and in the workplace
Panel Interview: we were thrilled to be joined by an expert panel of activists, academics and legal professionals to share their insights on this topic:
- Owen Greenhall, barrister at Garden Court Chambers
- Sarah Finch, activist and claimant in a landmark planning-environmental case in the Supreme Court
- David Whyte , professor at Queen Mary University
- Clive Dolphin, activist and spokesperson for Defend Our Juries
Creative content: We started this session by screening a short clip from documentary film “The Line We Crossed“, directed by Liz Smith and featuring one of the panelists Clive Dolphin.
Recording:
Legal Voices for the Future 