Members of the Environmental Law and Climate Justice Team have extensive experience in cases concerning Environmental Impact Assessments.
In the international arena, Leslie Thomas KC, Marc Willers KC and other members of Chambers, have advised inhabitants of the island of Barbuda in several challenges against the state including: a constitutional challenge against the government of Antigua in relation to the Barbudan’s rights to their land; and a challenge to the Antiguan government’s decision to grant planning permission for a new airport on the island on Barbuda brought on the grounds relating to defective environmental impact assessment. The Privy Council allowed the appeal for appellants represented by members.
Here in the UK, members are regularly instructed to advise on challenges to the grant of planning permission for development that has an impact on the environment, including fossil fuel development. Notably, Marc Willers KC represented Mr Frackman in both the High Court and Court of Appeal in his challenge of the decision of the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to grant Cuadrilla planning permission for fracking at two sites in Lancashire in Frackman v SSCLG and Cuadrilla [2018]. Marc also represented Sarah Finch in the Supreme Court’s ground-breaking judgment in the case of Finch v Surrey County Council in June 2024, which ruled that according to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive (and EIA Regulations 2017), planning authorities must assess downstream greenhouse gas emissions of a fossil fuel extraction project before deciding whether to grant planning permission for the development.
