In the run up to the climate change negotiations in Paris this December, Professor Philippe Sands QC will give a public lecture focusing on the role of international law and judges in addressing legal issues relating to climate change. In particular, he will consider the challenges faced, including (i) the limited number of actions taken by States as international legislature, (ii) the limits of the judicial function in interpreting and applying the law and not acting as a legislature, (iii) issues of scientific uncertainty, (iv) problems of evidence and expertise, and (v) the interrelationship of environmental, economic, social and other factors inherent in issues related to climate change. 

This lecture is a special event in a three-day symposium on climate change and the rule of law hosted by the Dickson Poon School of Law, The Supreme Court and HM Government. The symposium will bring together leading judges, practitioners and academics from across the globe to consider the ways in which climate change permeates, disrupts and shapes processes of adjudication.