Session 2:
The Impact of the Paris Agreement on Climate Litigation
The Paris Agreement is the first universal climate change agreement requiring all parties to communicate ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets to achieve a long-term global temperature goal. The Paris Agreement is a game-changer at the international level, but has it been at the national (and sub-national) level? What has been the impact of the Paris Agreement on litigation to improve mitigation of and adaption to climate change?
The presentation is in four parts. First, it examines the obligations created by the Paris Agreement under international law and under domestic law through incorporation of the Paris Agreement or a country’s nationally determined contributions into domestic law and policy. Secondly, the presentation examines how the Paris Agreement has influenced the courts’ application of norms. These include recognition of the globalisation and universality of the problem of climate change and solutions to the problem (a global norm to take action), the maximum permissible global temperature rise considered acceptable (the temperature target), the need for net zero emissions by 2050 (the time target) and the relevance of climate change and its consequences as matters to be considered in administrative and judicial decision-making. Thirdly, the presentation will explore how the Paris Agreement is influencing the factual considerations of anthropogenic climate change. The Paris Agreement assists in causally linking the emissions of a country and climate change, failure to take regulatory action and climate change, proposed development and climate change, and emissions of a country and extreme weather events. Finally, the presentation will illustrate how the Paris Agreement is affecting the law and legal responsibilities by focusing on the impact of the Paris Agreement on corporate directors’ liabilities.Date
Tuesday
7 May 2024
Location
Hall & Wilcox
Level 18/347 Kent St,
Sydney NSW 2000
Meet the Speakers
The Hon. Justice Brian J Preston FRSN SC
The Hon. Justice Brian J Preston FRSN SC
Justice Preston is the Chief Judge of the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales. Prior to being appointed in November 2005, he was a senior counsel practising primarily in New South Wales in environmental, planning, administrative and property law. He has lectured in post-graduate environmental law for over 30 years. He is the author of Australia’s first book on environmental litigation and 155 articles, book chapters and reviews on environmental law, administrative and criminal law. He holds numerous editorial positions in environmental law publications and has been involved in a number of international environmental consultancies and capacity-building programs, including for judiciaries throughout Asia, Africa and the European Union.
Justice Preston is an Official Member of the Judicial Commission of NSW, Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law, Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW and Honorary Fellow of the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand. He was awarded a Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) by Macquarie University in 2018 and a Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) by Western Sydney University in 2022. He is a member of various international environmental law committees and advisory boards, including serving on the Governing Council and as Vice President for Oceania of the Global Judicial Institute on the Environment and Chair of the Environmental Law Committee of the Law Association for Asia and the Pacific (LAWASIA).
Justice Preston is currently a Visiting Professor at Durham University (UK), an Adjunct Professor at three Australian universities, the University of Sydney, Western Sydney University and Southern Cross University, and a former Visiting Fellow at Corpus Christi College and Magdalen College at Oxford University (UK).