34 WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM | FEB 2022 HELPING CLIENTS TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGE THROUGH BIODIVERSITY Climate change is the biggest existential crisis facing us today. Unless urgent action is taken, it will devastate future generations and transform life on our planet. As lawyers and human beings, we have the responsibility to help to preserve our planet and to assist our clients in doing the same by helping them navigate the law. Indeed, the Law Society’s recent – and very welcome – resolution urges solicitors to, “Engage in climate-conscious legal practice by… approaching any matter arising in the course of legal practice with regard to the likely impact of that matter upon the climate crisis.” Preserving biodiversity has long been overlooked inefforts to tackleclimatechange, but, as stated by a recent landmark study by the Zoological Society of London, treating the global climate change and biodiversity crises separately is counterproductive and could even deepen the problem. Life on our planet is already disappearing, with 15 plants and animals declared extinct or extinct in the wild in 2020, while The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, which assesses the level of threat to the more than 138,300 species of animals, plants and fungi currently in its database, warns more than 38,500 species are threatened with extinction. Clearly, the Environment Act alone will not solve the UK's contribution to the climate and biodiversity crisis, but there are some hugely welcome measures that the Act introduces to assist lawyers in their efforts to use the law to protect our planet. ‘Greening’ supply chains Theenvironmental credentialsof abusiness’s supply chain will already be of concern to any company with an interest in sustainability and preserving the environment from a Helping Clients Tackle Climate Change Biodiversity Natalie Barbosa Senior Associate Anthony Collins Solicitors 76 King Street, Manchester, M2 4NH, United Kingdom Tel: +44 0161 470 0312 E: Natalie.barbosa@anthonycollins.com www.anthonycollins.com Natalie Barbosa, senior associate at Anthony Collins Solicitors, examines how the introduction of new laws in the Environment Act 2021 creates opportunities for law firms to help clients make biodiversity part of their environmental strategy, and discusses the key role law firms play in advising their clients successfully adopting green initiatives. Natalie Barbosa provides advice to charities and health and social care organisations, with a focus on fundraising regulation and advice, commercial/ contractual partnerships and green projects. She also helps lead Anthony Collins Solicitors’ work in the green sector, assisting clients in achieving their sustainability goals, greening their procurement processes and working to improve biodiversity. She leads Anthony Collins Solicitors’ involvement with The Chancery Lane Project, a collaborative effort of UK lawyers using the law and contractual clauses to address the climate and ecological crisis. Through
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