117. 282 Lawyers Defend a Client Without a Voice: Planet Earth with Elspeth Jones

Today's episode will give you hope and a sense that the tide is actually turning, if just thinking about the state of our planet makes you sad or fearful, then. Our guest—Elspeth Jones—is the warm, funny, brilliant Deputy CEO of an environmental law charity called ClientEarth whose main client is just what the name implies: their client is our planet! Turns out, there is a group of global lawyers whose only client is The Earth. And with a support team of experts in conservation, they are defending our planet and making real change legally binding. (00:00- 04:37) OPENING (04:48- 13:34) What is ClientEarth? ClientEarth was founded by James Thornton in 2008 Law as a powerful tool Enhance law that already exists Lawyers that are qualified from all over the world How ClientEarth is funded? Sense of purpose (13:35- 24:15) Stories that matter BOOK: The Little Gardener by Emily Hughes Even a group of small people can catalyze big change in the world Torres Strait Islands Case United Nation’s Human Rigths Committee Australia A case with a lot of first Yessie Mosby Indonesia Strict legal precedent Pushing the judges in terms of their cultural thinking (24:16- 27:21) BREAK (27:22- 36:44) Reasons to be optimist Law that bans the products that links to deforestation Deforestation The new law will protect about 278 sq miles PODCAST: Helping the Rainforest at the Click of a Button with Chochi Iturralde Change the law and the culture change follows (36:45- 43:04) The gratitude economy Every dollar/pound that you spend is a vote for the world that you want to live in Greenwashing Labels that are trustworthy (43:05- 49:35) I wish people knew No one is too small to make a difference ClientEarth launch a case to tackle air pollution in the UK We all have different talents and there are many ways that we can deploy that change Accidental niche (49:36- 59:37) Resources Spreading the word Unleashing the full potential 12-month process of optimization Leverage the law to make changes Plastics plant (59:38- 01:01:11) CLOSING