The Double Jeopardy of the Environment & Democracy – Byline Times

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Environmentalist Tom Burke considers why undermining the democratic rule of law would be destructive for the environment and all who want to protect it. Joni Mitchell wrote ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ in 1970, the year the first Earth Day launched the modern environment movement. The song’s refrain – Don’t it always […]

DEMOCRACY, LAW AND THE ENVIRONMENT – UKELA ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2021

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This is a speech I gave at the UKELA annual conference 2021. In summary, I argue that the rule of law will not long survive a failure to maintain the ecological foundations of the economy. The climate is the foundation in the most imminent danger. The ecological foundations of the […]

Climate Change and Sustainable Development – U&i Global

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“Can we stop Climate Change?? It is too late for us to prevent the worst effects of GlobalWarming?? Why have we not acted sooner to prevent the effects of a climate breakdown? What is the relation between Climate Change and Sustainable Development? These are some of the core questions that […]

What Are the Priorities for Environmental Law Following Brexit – PIEL UK 2021

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It is fifty years since I joined a local group of Friends of the Earth. I started as an environmentalist. What I am going to do is step back a bit and look at both some of the failures and the tensions in a wider context of the development of […]

There’s no doubt about government green intentions, but what about its ability to follow through? – Green Alliance

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Fifty years ago, extending the rule of law over the then wild frontier of the British environment was the main challenge facing environmental campaigners. Post-Brexit, the challenge we now face is protecting the rule of EU environmental law from populist politicians. Environmental law is the tool we use to balance […]

CLIMATE, THE COURT AND THE ELECTION

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There is a tradition in American presidential elections of an October surprise. This is a real or created event that has the potential to make a significant late shift in voting intentions. The much-lamented death of Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, qualifies despite occurring a couple of weeks early. […]

We cannot succeed in making the climate safe without democracy

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We cannot succeed in making the climate safe without democracy. Attacks on democracy are therefore attacks on a safe climate wherever they occur. To stay in power despots must destroy the machinery nations use to learn from their mistakes. There is no mistake free path to a net zero world. […]

The impact of coronavirus on the environment – France 24

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One of the things that has become very clear, in the last five years or so, is that we have a serious problem, not just with bees, but with insect life in general. We are seeing massive declines in insect populations, and they are extraordinarily important because they play a […]

How does the coronavirus pandemic impact Earth Hour and the way that we think about climate change? – Al Jazeera

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This is an enormous shock to the way that we think about ourselves in the world, and it’s a real reminder, of how important it is for us to work with each other to deal with things. It is giving us a real sense that there are no borders anymore, […]

Will the conservative government act on Climate Change? – Sky News

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Boris Johnson has already come out, since he got back to Downing Street, and said that this is going to be the greenest government ever. He has recommitted himself to the goal of being carbon neutral by the middle of the century. He has promised a green industrial revolution. So, […]