Matrix Podcasts

In Part 2 of this episode Kate Cook, Tejal Kantikar and Linda Schneider look at normative choices and assumptions underpinning integrated assessment models in the IPCC's mitigation report and examine how the future AR7 report could be aligned with equity, a legal requirement, using a wider range of economic approaches and models, including those produced by developing countries.

The mitigation models, scenarios and emission pathways presented by IPCC Working Group 3 are highly technical but have direct implications for the distribution of the mitigation burden and securing climate justice for the poorest and most vulnerable states and regions. In this two part episode, Kate Cook discusses equity-related criticisms of these models and scenarios with two expert guests, Tejal Kanitkar, Associate Professor at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research in Mumbai, and Linda Schneider of the Heinrich Boll Foundation. What are the criticisms being made of the mitigation models and scenarios in the current report and how might these be addressed in the IPCC's next, 7th,Assessment Report? How do these equity-related concerns relate to the human rights duties and related responsibilities of states?

In this episode, Kate Cook discusses the distinctive and in many ways groundbreaking approach to climate justice adopted in Wales/Cymru. Her guest is the leading campaigner Ruth Chambers OBE, senior fellow of Green Alliance and honorary professor of practice at UCL's Centre for law and the environment as well as adviser to other organisations including River Action UK and the RSPB. Ruth is widely recognised for her work on helping to shape the post-brexit legal landscape for the environment. Kate and Ruth discuss the implications of recent Welsh legislation in this area, as well as the 2015 Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act. Against ongoing concerns relating to legacies from Wales's industrial past and the increasing impacts of climate change, how is Wales addressing climate justice and nature recovery in the broader context set by the 2015 Act?

In this episode, Kate Cook is joined by two guest experts both directly involved in securing greater protection of the marine environment from the impacts of climate change, Gareth Cunningham, the Director for Conservation Policy at the Marine Conservation Society and Dr. Sian Prior, Director of Shipping Policy for the Brussels-based organisation Seas at Risk. Together they discuss ocean acidification, sometimes labelled the ‘evil twin’ of climate change, as well as the, so far unsuccessful, attempts to secure a net zero framework for shipping emissions at the IMO and finally the scope for adopting blue carbon measures to support marine resilience.

Jamas Hodivala KC discusses with Sam McCahon, Joint Head of Disputes Team at ORBC, the UK National Contact Point's re-branding, historic concerns about its independence, its new links with UK Export Finance, and its increasingly significant role in handling complaints about compliance with the OECD Guidelines."

In the latest episode of ESG: Global, Florence Iveson speaks with Alexander Wijeratna of Mighty Earth. Together, they discuss the organisation’s groundbreaking legal strategies aimed at confronting the environmental and human rights impacts of industrial agriculture. They discuss whistleblower complaints over JBS’s sustainability linked bonds, legal challenges to its stock exchange listing, and new efforts to hold major financial institutions accountable for funding deforestation, methane emissions and other climate harms linked to global meat supply chains.

Samantha Knights KC talks to Mutuso Dhliwayo, Executive Director of the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Organisation and Octavio Ferraz, Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Transnational Law Institute at King’s College London about the social, economic and environmental impacts of lithium mining in Zimbabwe and bauxite mining in the Amazon as paradigm examples of the consequences of mining for rare minerals on the natural world and communities that live in the areas surrounding the mines.

In the latest episode of the ESG Global podcast, Jim Robottom speaks with James Bolton Jones from Spotlight on Corruption about the corruption risks emerging in the global transition to net zero. They explore the role of UK anti corruption law, critical mineral supply chains, climate finance transparency, and Spotlight’s forthcoming manifesto on ensuring integrity in the climate transition.

As pressure builds on companies to conduct increased forced labour due diligence on their supply chains, Jamas Hodivala KC explores some of the practical issues that can arise with Kate Larsen, Director at SupplyESChange.

In this episode of A Common Concern, we discuss the meaning, scope and application of the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. This right has been recognised by the UN General Assembly and endorsed by the International Court of Justice and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Kate Cook is joined by environmental and human rights expert and former Head of Legal at Friends of the Earth, Gita Parihar, and by Sean O'Connell, the Global Focal Point on Environmental Justice at the UN Development Programme. Gita and Sean are currently engaged in developing a tool to assist national human rights institutions in ensuring that this right can be operated effectively. Ten years on from the adoption of the Paris Agreement, does this right provide a way to address the growing triple planetary crisis?