It’s all very well and good to make the pledges, but how do you make these into translatable actions? The law can be a very powerful force in that
Claire Macmillen
Deputy Director, Clean Energy and Climate Change Legal Team, UK Government Legal Department
Williams has also been involved in negotiations to create innovative institutions developed to address the specific challenges posed by the climate crisis – for example, the Adaptation Fund, which allows countries to access funding and develop projects directly through accredited national implementing entities.
There’s a sense that the law and legal work can help translate words into action when it comes to addressing the climate crisis. ‘It’s all very well and good to make the pledges, but how do you make these into translatable actions? The law can be a very powerful force in that,’ says Macmillen.
She describes how the UK’s Climate Change Act, with its legally binding carbon budgets, has influenced discussions about net zero so that it’s now commonplace to discuss this and other sustainability issues. ‘You can see the value of a rules-based and law-based system to drive those changes,’ she says.
For Williams, it’s important to ensure the decisions taken at each COP are ‘actionable by Parties, by governments, by policymakers […] to take the next step, take the next decision’ and move action on climate change forward. Her role in ensuring there’s clarity in the texts negotiated at the talks is central to this, because ‘these words at this international level are the main drivers for the action on the ground,’ she says.
Jean-Pierre Douglas-Henry is Managing Director, Sustainability and Resilience at DLA Piper, which has been appointed by the UK government as Provider of Legal Services for COP26. ‘This comes at an absolutely critical time for the world in climate terms and our approach has been multi-layered,’ he says.
As part of its COP26-related work, the firm has committed to holding client-facing roundtables before, during and after COP26. These roundtables will seek to engage with clients on issues linked to the COP agenda – for example, carbon pricing, sustainable finance and pathways to net zero. Clients will discuss the progress they’ve made and the obstacles faced.
Douglas-Henry argues that law firms have a role to play in facilitating and enabling these conversations between clients, so that their perspectives can be heard.
He also argues that collaboration between law firms is necessary to address the climate crisis with the urgency required. ‘What we’re saying is, let’s share best practice […] because these are existential threats, they transcend individual profit making and competitive norms and they require us to work together,’ he says.
Douglas-Henry hopes COP26 will provoke introspection among law firms about whether the contribution they’re making to address the climate crisis is sufficient. He argues that ‘the Paris Agreement has driven a redefinition over time of what business is for.’
He talks about the current focus on purpose in the business world and the idea of making profit in a sustainable way, as well as the need to engage with all stakeholders, and links these themes directly with how law firms are run. Traditionally, lawyers have said their purpose is to give legal advice. However, he argues, ‘the fact is they too are businesses and face all the same issues.’
Many law firm leaders across jurisdictions are seeing environment, social and governance issues beginning to influence their business, from attracting talent to being appointed to a panel. This trend will continue to grow as the focus on these areas from a range of stakeholders intensifies. COP26 offers a focal point through which the profession can consider its environmental impact and build on efforts to address it.
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