Guyanese lawyers urged to withhold services for oil projects

Apr 27, 2023 News

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…as group raises alarm over climate crisis, devastation of planet

Kaieteur News – A group of prominent lawyers, working with the Good Law Project and Plan B. Earth, are taking action in solidarity, with all those on the front lines of the climate and ecological crisis, in particular, the younger generations, the people of the global south, and those prosecuted, and in prison for peaceful acts of conscience.

“We have declared that we will withhold our professional services in respect of supporting new fossil fuel projects and action against climate protesters, exercising their democratic right of peaceful protests,” the lawyers said in a full-page advertisement published in the Kaieteur News on Wednesday. In the advertisement titled, “Lawyers are Responsible” to legal colleagues in Guyana, the lawyers highlighted that for 200 years, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuel like coal oil and gas. They elaborated that the burning  fossil fuels, generates greenhouse gas emissions, trap the sun’s heat, resulting in the rising sea levels and climate breakdown.

“The rainforest of Guyana removes 154 million tons of greenhouse gas making Guyana a carbon sink but if we do not stop fossil fuels, this beautiful land is under threat,” the lawyers said. They confirmed, “Already global overheating will result in much of Georgetown, being underwater by 2030. The interior of the country will face the devastating impacts of worsening drought and floods, from intensifying food, insecurity to loss of land and homes.”

On the website it was stated, “We, the undersigned members of the legal profession, support the contents of this letter in the light of substantial evidence that breaching the 1.5˚C temperature goal established by the Paris Agreement on Climate Change risks mass loss of life and threatens the conditions for a stable civilisation, including the rule of law.” It was also mentioned that “We did not join the legal profession or study law to facilitate mass loss of life or the collapse of the rule of law. To the extent that our rules of professional conduct require us to support courses of action which contribute towards these outcomes, we reject them, and will accept the personal consequences.” Given the urgency, the lawyers are inviting Guyanese lawyers to sign the declaration at https://www.lar.earth.

The lawyers highlight that last year, the United Nations (UN) Secretary General warned that “investing in new fossil fuel infrastructure is moral and economic madness”. Yet the United Kingdom (UK) Government, despite claiming to be a “world-leader on climate change”, accelerated the grant of new oil and gas licences in the North Sea and has approved a new coal mine in Cumbria, contrary to the expert and scientific advice. They explained that international law recognises the principles that sovereign states, have control over their own resources and must not cause harm to the territory of other states. It was said that the UK Government is knowingly pursuing policies that contribute towards a climate catastrophe that will render whole regions of the world uninhabitable, in violation of the no harm principle.

The undersigned lawyers said, the UK legal profession, taken as a whole, plays a major role in supporting the fossil fuel economy, that is already killing and displacing many people throughout the world, and which now also threatens all of our futures. The City of London is one of the largest global centres for financing fossil fuel projects, assessed in 2019 as supporting at least 15% of global emissions. Those who peacefully protest against the climate crisis are treated as criminals: on just one day last year, more than 50 peaceful climate protestors were jailed in the UK.

Declaration of Conscience

According to the lawyers, the undersigned members of the legal profession believe in upholding the rule of law as a cornerstone of social stability, prosperity and democratic values. The lawyers note the UK’s parliament declaration of climate emergency in 2019 and similar declarations by over 2,000 national and local governments. The lawyers also note that in 2021, the International Energy Agency concluded that there could be no new oil or gas fields or coal mines if the world was to reach net zero by 2050, and the UN Secretary General’s statement in April 2022 that “investing in new fossil fuel infrastructure is moral and economic madness”. Despite which, as global carbon emissions from fossil fuels hit record levels in 2022, the UK Government approved a new coal mine in Cumbria and currently plans to issue more than 100 new licences for oil and gas production in the North Sea. Further, they recognize that those who signed onto the 2016 Paris Agreement is set to breach the 1.5C global warming limit established under the agreement. HM Treasury stated in its Net Zero Review: Interim Report (July 2021) that the world face an “existential threat”.

Accumulating scientific evidence has conveyed stark warnings of the increasingly severe, interconnected and often irreversible impacts of climate change on ecosystems, biodiversity and human systems. It was underscored that the likely consequences of “overshooting” 1.5C include widespread loss of life and livelihoods, catastrophic harm to health, large scale population displacements and the destruction of critical infrastructure. In the UK alone, we are already seeing unprecedented heat waves, wildfires, flooding and coastal erosion. In other parts of the globe the effects are already far worse. To take but two examples, in East Africa at least 30 million people are facing famine and 2022’s record-breaking floods in Pakistan impacted around 33 million people. Climate change results in climate injustice: lower-income groups and countries and the younger generation have contributed least to climate change but are the most severely affected by it.

The lawyers expressed their grave concern that the above developments pose a serious risk to the rule of law. It was noted that lawyers who support transactions the effects of which are inconsistent with the 1.5C limit contribute towards the above consequences. Accordingly, “we call upon our government and our colleagues to act urgently to do whatever they can to address the causes and consequences of climate and ecological crisis and advance, a just transition to sustainability.” The lawyers said, they support law reform and litigation aimed at mitigating and adapting to the effects of global warming. Adding, in particular, they support the implementation of the polluter pays principle to correct the market failure that externalises to society the costs of greenhouse emissions created by burning fossil fuels. It was also stated that they support individuals democratic right of peaceful protest, particularly those aimed at drawing public attention to climate crisis.

Signatories include:

Sir Geoffrey Bindman KC

Prof. Leslie Thomas KC

Fiona McLeod AO KC

Imran Khan KC

Matt Hutchings KC

Jolyon Maugham KC

Gregg Taylor KC

Tim Crosland Plan B

Melinda Janki

Prof Bill Bowring

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• Fiona McLeod AO KC, Imran Khan KC, Matt Hutchings KC, Prof. Leslie Thomas KC, Sir Geoffrey Bindman KC

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