September 2025 Newsletter

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by

Legal Voices for the Future
in

Dear LVF Members

Welcome to LVF’s September newsletter – we hope you’ve had a lovely summer and didn’t miss us too much over the August break! 

This edition of Legal Voices for the Future’s the newsletter includes: 

  • Our upcoming LVF Education and LVF Community events 
  • Our latest member blog posts on ‘Holding Fossil Fuel Corporations & Executives Accountable’ and ‘The New Activist Frontline?’
  • Our upcoming careers event – Legal Careers for a Sustainable Future

See you next month,

LVF Education 

September knowledge session

What do you know about environmental NGOs? Recent research notes they are: 

“playing a prominent role in the cause of environmental protection. They use their unique social influence to form an interactive mechanism between experience and policy, provide excellent environmental services, promote the progress of environmental education and research, influence policy decisions, undertake outstanding environmental protection work, and provide important support for environmental research. Their participation and guidance in international cooperation make the solution of environmental problems more effective”. 

You can find out more about this at our upcoming knowledge session on ‘The role of NGOs in driving climate laws’ on Monday, 22 September at 6.30pm (BST). We have a fantastic line-up of speakers from different NGOs so this is definitely one not to miss. You can find out more and sign up here.

Other Events

  • Saturday 11 October, 10am, Kings College London Strand Campus – Legal Careers for a Sustainable Future: find out more at the end of this email.
  • October Members’ Webinar: Stewardship Committee member Hadrien Espiard will be hosting a webinar in collaboration with a research centre to better understand how biodiversity and conservation policies manifest on the ground. We will be sharing more details,including on the date and time, for members to sign up in due course.
  • 20 November – UKELA South West & LVF joint Knowledge Session – Environmental Permitting: we are delighted to be hosting a joint event with UKELA (in person in Bristol and online) on environmental permitting, which will explore whether the regime in England and Wales is ready for the changes that will be needed in the next 30 years. We have fantastic speakers lined up for the event: Lord Charles Banner KC (at Keating Chambers), Marcus Reynolds (Senior Managing Consultant at Ramboll) and Jo Pope (Permit Assurance Manager at Pennon Group Plc). The event will take place on 20 November, at Burges Salmon’s Bristol office and online, so add the date to your diary! Keep an eye out by following UKELA and LVF for more details of the event, including how to sign up.

Details of our events are in the table below, and you can also always find more about our upcoming events on our website and Ticketsource page, and details of our past events on our website.

Upcoming events

LVF Education

  • LVF’s July knowledge session will be on the groundbreaking ECtHR case – KlimaSeniorinnen. This session will be hosted by our member Ginny Bicciolo and Giulia Trojano and Patrick Kenny from Hausfeld, with panellists Marc Willers KC (Garden Court Chambers) and Cassie Roddy Mullineaux (Global Legal Action Network). The creative content will be a discussion on the effectiveness of environmental protests vis-a-vis strategic litigation. Refreshments will be served from 6pm and the event will begin at 6.30pm. You can sign up for the event on 2 July in person at Hausfeld or online with this link.

You can always find more about our upcoming events on our website and Ticketsource page, and details of our past events on our website.

LVF Community

  • Trip to Grant Museum Lates ‘World of Wasps’: following on from our inaugural LVF Community book club in September which focused on insects (more information here), we are heading to this exhibition on wasps on 7 October from 6-9pm and we’d love to see you there. Purchase tickets here.Poetry evening: we will be hosting our first ever poetry reading evening soon! We will circulate details in due course.

Other events

  • September and October 2025: Check out ‘The Line We Crossed’, a documentary by Liz Smith, featuring climate protestors facing a restrained right to protest despite their nonviolent civil resistance. There are screenings in London for September and October 2025, and across the UK, find out more here. In December 2025, we expect to hold a knowledge session on climate change activism in the UK, so watching this film will be a helpful precursor to that session!
  • Wednesday, 17 September 2025, 6.30-9pm (BST), in person in London – LRI’s 15-Year Anniversary: Celebrate 15 years of Legal Response International. Paul Watkinson, former chair of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice and a senior negotiator for the French government at the time of the Paris Agreement’s adoption, will reflect on the Paris Agreement, 10 years on – what has been achieved, what comes next? Sign up here.
  • Thursday, 2 October 2025, 6-7.30pm (BST), online and in person – High-Level Panel on ICJ Advisory Opinion on Climate Change: UCL Centre for Law and Environment will be hosting an event on the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion on climate change. Sign up here. 
  • Wednesdays, 24 September-12 November 2025, 4-6pm (BST), online – Short Course: Climate Change Litigation: BIICL offers an eight-session course examining climate litigation across legal, scientific, and policy dimensions, featuring leading experts from law, academia, and advocacy. Sign up here.
  • Monday, 6 October 2025, 9.30-10.30am (BST), online and in person – SDGs and Beyond: UK Climate Leadership on the Global Stage: RSA and UK at Expo 2025 host a global panel linking London and Osaka to explore the UK’s climate commitments and leadership in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Sign up here.
  • Thursday, 9 October 2025, 5.30-8.30pm (BST), in person – Castle Debates Special: What Next on Climate Change & the Environment?: Join Castle Debates for a high-level panel and reception exploring future directions in climate policy, featuring Stanley Johnson and other leading voices. Sign up here.
  • Thursday, 9 October 2025, 6-9.30pm (BST), in person – Living with the Planet LATE: The British Academy presents an evening of talks, workshops, and performances exploring our relationship with nature and the humanities’ role in tackling environmental challenges. Sign up here.
  • Thursday, 23 October 2025, 7-9pm, in person – Voices for Change: Stories from the Environmental Movement: Hosted by the British Library, this event celebrates environmental activism through personal stories and interviews with movement leaders. Sign up here.
  • Thursday, 23 October 2025, 6-7.30pm (BST), online and in person – Ask the Experts: Global Climate Equality – Is a Fair Future Possible?: Join leading voices in climate justice for a dynamic discussion hosted by Climate Action and the British Council. This event explores how climate change intersects with global inequality and what can be done to ensure a just transition. Sign up here.
  • Monday, 27 October 2025, TBC, in person in London – ‘International Protection in the Context of the Climate Crisis: Legal Strategies for UK Practice and Policy’: express your interest here.
  • On demand: catch up with the launch of Pete Bett’s book ‘The Climate Diplomat‘, hosted by our partner the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and Environment.

If you go to any of these events – let us know! We’d love to hear your experience and share it with other Legal Voices members on our LinkedIn Community Group and website.

New member blog posts

We are delighted to have posted two new blog posts from our members:

Holding Fossil Fuel Corporations & Executives Accountable…: Following Charlotte Branfield’s knowledge session on “The Darker Side of ESG” in April this year, LVF Member J Spooner has written a legal thought experiment on whether profits from human rights hot zones can be treated as criminal property under UK law. J considers the possibility of using the UK’s Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to pursue civil recovery of wealth accumulated through corporate environmental and human rights abuses in the fossil fuel sector. Specifically, he investigates whether the evidential strategy of “irresistible inference” can be adapted to recover ‘property’ derived from unlawful conduct by fossil fuel companies and their executives. He considers how this approach might enable enforcement agencies to bring civil recovery proceedings against fossil fuel companies, provide a foundation for action against individual executives and, in so doing, offer a strategic toolkit for campaigners seeking justice and systemic change.

The New Activist Frontline: LVF Member Alice Stephens has written about the relationship between protest and climate litigation. She notes that “As anti-protest legislation intensifies, many are turning to climate litigation as a new form of activism. However, recent ECtHR cases like Cannavaciuolo highlight that continuing battles over standing may halt collective climate action in the courts.”

Legal Careers for a Sustainable Future – Saturday 11 October 2025

We warmly invite you to apply for our first-ever careers event, in collaboration with the Centre for Climate Law & Governance at King’s College London. 

Legal Careers for a Sustainable Future is not your traditional careers event: it aims to foster collaboration, creativity and hope. You will have the opportunity to take part in four workshops, each run by leading solicitors, barristers, in-house counsel and more. The day will also involve unique networking sessions and chances to connect with others pursuing careers in sustainability. A list of guest speakers can be viewed in one of the questions below.

By attending Legal Careers for a Sustainable Future, you will: 

🌿 discover the many ways in which lawyers can drive the net-zero transition;

🌿 learn about practical career pathways and roles in sustainability;

🌿 feel inspired, think big and build your network; and

🌿 develop skills that lawyers of the future will need.

Legal Careers for a Sustainable Future is suitable for all career stages, whether you are a student, a graduate aiming to land your first role, or a professional looking to make a career move or build your skills and network within your current role. Spaces are limited, and preference will be given to those who demonstrate the most enthusiasm and potential to benefit from the event. Please submit your short application by 23:59 BST on Tuesday 30 September 2025

We will be joined by some amazing guests: Emily Bradeen (Grantham Research Institute), Andrew Nealon (Vinson & Elkins), Dr Clara Lopez (Kings College London), Phoebe Tickell (Moral Imaginations), Jake White (WWF), Monica Feria-Tinta (Twenty Essex Chambers), Zaneta Sedilekova (Planetary Law Lab), Joshua Domb (Gen-R Law) and Apolline Roger (Client Earth).

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