Extinction the Facts by Sir David Attenborough showed the crisis we all face in preserving our planets biodiversity. Many of these problems are global or transnational: global warning, Illegal wildlife trafficking, overfishing our oceans… This means our responses must be international. As the programme showed, when there is political will to act, we can take effective measures to ban harmful activities – such as the use of ozone depleting chemicals. Legal researchers at the University of Lincoln, in the Centre of Ecological Justice and Law School, are working hard to find and advocate innovative legal solutions to some of our planet’s environmental crises.
- Professor Kirk, has, for example, developed proposals as to how international law can be strengthened to stop plastics pollution. She is now working with colleagues in Canada on improving understanding of what prompts corporate actors to undertake energy efficiency measures. Such measures are vital if we are to reduce our carbon footprint and so limit our contribution to the climate crisis, but they are also often costly and difficult for companies to implement. This project is demonstrating the mechanisms by which companies can best be encouraged and supported to change their behaviour.
- Professor Barnes recently completed a WWF/World Bank project to incentivise sustainable fishing on the high seas (https://www.worldwildlife.org/projects/incentivizing-sustainable-fishing-on-the-high-seas ). This project involved working with scientists, economists and policy experts to develop decision frameworks and tools to ensure that only sustainably caught fish enter supply chains. He is now advising government committees and advocating for stronger sustainability measures in law in the UK to ensure the effective management of fisheries post-Brexit.
- Research by Professor Matthew Hall is showing how law can provide meaningful redress and/or compensation to the victims of environmental harm.
- Professor Kotze is developing new understandings of environmental law focused on earth systems and so better equipped to deal with planetary scale crises.
- Professor French’s research is identifying the structural weaknesses in international environmental law that prevent it from effectively addressing the climate, biodiversity and pollution crises we face.