Law on Trial: Ecological Destruction and Climate Litigation on Trial, with Stewart Motha & Fleur Ramsay
When:
—
Venue:
Birkbeck Main Building, Malet Street
Law on Trial 2023 will explore a variety of themes celebrating the 200th Anniversary of Birkbeck & 30 years of the Law School.
Event Title: Ecological Destruction and Climate Litigation on Trial, with Stewart Motha & Fleur Ramsay
Abstract: Fleur Ramsay is a Samoan lawyer who is engaged in a decolonial approach to environmental litigation. This involves foregrounding the knowledges and experiences of indigenous peoples in Moana Nui / Wonsolwara, ‘our sea of isIands’ (called the Pacific by European colonisers). Developing an understanding of climate destruction and rising sea-levels as a renewed form of colonial ‘dispossession’ (in contrast to ‘displacement’), Fleur reconceives what loss and damage resulting from rising global temperatures should mean in international law. Motha and Ramsay will examine the limits of legal discourses on property, human rights, and compensation in climate litigation – including the rise of professional litigation funders backed by corporate investors.
The speakers:
Fleur Ramsay
Fleur Ramsay - Head of Litigation and Climate Lead, Pasifika (Pacific) Program, Environmental Defenders Office, Australia.
Stewart Motha
Stewart Motha - Professor of Law at Birkbeck Law School, where he lectures on Constitutional and Administrative Law; Natural Resources; and Law, History, Violence. His current research is focused on climate litigation and how courts contend with ‘matter’ in the context of distinctions between law and nature.
Contact name:
External Relations Events Team