Climate change and the law: obstacles and opportunities

With global average temperatures now 1.5˚C above pre-industrial averages, the pressure to curb carbon emissions is more pressing than ever. Yet despite 30 years of agreements, annual emissions are at record levels and rising.

With technical solutions still not practical, the law is more critical than ever because, unlike market solutions, it provides the framework to enforce accountability and drive systemic change across nations and industries. Laws can also be used to incentivize renewable energy adoption, protect ecosystems, and safeguard vulnerable communities disproportionately affected by climate impacts.

Yet the effectiveness of small-scale environmental rulings has yet to translate to global agreements on carbon, its determinants, or impacts on people and environments.

In order to discuss the problem of environmental law under climate change, the RGS-IBG Climate Change Research Group is bringing together a stellar panel of international legal experts to discuss the topic Climate Change and the Law: Obstacles and Opportunities. It will also include reflections from three panellists, followed by a panel discussion.

Speakers

Michael B. Gerrard joined the Columbia faculty in 2009. From 1979 through 2008, he practiced environmental law in New York, most recently as partner in charge of the New York office of Arnold & Porter.

His practice involved trying numerous cases and arguing many appeals in federal and state courts and administrative tribunals; handling the environmental aspects of numerous transactions and development projects; and providing regulatory compliance advice to a wide variety of clients in the private and public sectors.

Gerrard was the 2004-2005 chair of the American Bar Association’s 10,000-member section of environment, energy, and resources. He also chaired the New York City Bar Association’s executive committee and the New York State Bar Association’s environmental law section. He has served on the executive committees of the boards of the Environmental Law Institute and the American College of Environmental Lawyers.

Several independent rating services ranked Gerrard as the leading environmental lawyer in New York and one of the leading environmental lawyers in the world.

Kate Cook is a Barrister specialising in environmental law, public international law, EU and human rights law, for Matrix Chambers. Kate practises generally in public international, European Union and human rights law. She has appeared as counsel before the International Court of Justice and other international fora in cases relating to environmental issues and genocide.

Her recent work includes advising states, NGOs and international organizations on climate emergency issues and advising UN agencies and NGOs on a range of biodiversity, land rights, due diligence and fisheries related issues.

She is increasingly involved in climate litigation before the UK courts and is currently acting for Friends of the Earth UK in a judicial review concerning the UK’s financing of a gas field project in Mozambique. She has authored two legal guides published by UNFAO (details below), a textbook on wildlife law (Cameron May 2004) and regularly publishes and lectures on international and environmental issues including climate change, due diligence and related human rights.

Monica Feria-Tinta is a Barrister and specialist in public international law and international arbitration. She is currently a finalist for ‘Barrister of the Year’ at The Lawyer Awards 2025, has been named as The Times’ first 'Lawyer of the Week' in 2025 and won the coveted ‘Woman of the Year’ award at the Women & Diversity in Law Awards 2025 which recognises exceptional achievement by a woman in the legal profession.

Monica’s advocacy has consistently attracted significant praise. She was shortlisted as ‘International Law Junior of the Year’ in The Legal 500 Bar Awards 2024, won ‘Environment Junior of the Year’ at the Chambers and Partners UK Bar Awards 2023 and was ‘Barrister of the Year’ finalist in The Lawyer Awards 2020.

Monica is recognised as a leading practitioner in four areas in the main legal directories – (1) public international law, (2) environment, (3) energy, (4) international human rights law and international criminal law.

Booking information

• Advance booking for this event is required. In order to book you will need an account on our website. If you already have an account you will be prompted to log in when you click 'book now'. Please create an account if you do not have one yet (you do not need to be a member of the Society to create an account).
• This event will be held on Zoom and joining instructions will be included in your confirmation email.

If you have any questions or require assistance with your booking, please email events@rgs.org