Client Earth

Ecological disaster across the globe is being averted by the skillful, strategic deployment of idealistic and dogged environmental lawyers enforcing existing laws (and working to improve them). Environmental lawyer James Thornton sees the Earth as his client. The organisation he founded in 2007, ClientEarth, uses advocacy, litigation, and research to address the greatest challenges of our time - including biodiversity loss, climate change, and toxic chemicals. It now has sixty lawyers working full-time - finding, taking on, and winning cases across a broad spectrum. They are, for instance, blocking Scandinavian attempts to recommence whaling, winning against the UK government for breach of the Air Quality laws, reforming the European Fisheries Policy, stopping new coal-fired stations being built in Poland, and shutting down illegal forestry in central Africa. Client Earth draws on a wide range of interviews with leading lawyers, scholars, European Commissioners, government ministers, business leaders, fisheries specialists, environmental activists, philanthropists, and many regular stakeholders who have learned to use the law to protect their own environments. It provides inspiration from the chain of victories already won in what may be the most compelling legal drama ever played out in the courts: the Earth and its people versus the major polluters and fossil-fuel giants.

The voice of many waters -- We are made of law -- Where the wild things are -- Building an ecological civilisation -- Leveraging Alaska -- The lifecycle of the law -- The lie of the land -- Why I do this work -- An air that kills -- The sheriff comes to town -- Leaving plenty more fish in the sea -- Setting up in Brussels -- Coals of fire -- How to start a public interest environmental group -- The forests of Africa -- Making laws work: implementation -- The dragon awakes -- Doing deals for the earth -- The judgement of Paris -- Conclusion.