Teaching and Learning Climate and Environmental Justice in Law Schools Global Perspectives on Transforming the Curriculum

About the Authors

Preface

Richard Grimes, Stephen Levett, Rebecca Samaras and Rebecca Williams

Foreword

PART 1 The Case for Including Climate and Environmental Justice in the Law School Portfolio

1 Climate Change and the Environment: The Educational Imperative

2 Locating the Learning and Teaching of Climate and Environmental Justice in the Law School Portfolio: ‘Best Practice’ and Logistics

3 Climate Lawyering and Legal Education: Decolonizing the Experience

4 Addressing Dimensions of Environmental Justice through Experiential Learning

5 Legal Ethics, Law Schools, and the Climate Emergency

6 Developing Environmental Agents of Change Within the Core Legal Curriculum

7 Climate Change, the Environment and Legal Education: Creation of Knowledge through Transformative Experience

8 Establishing Environmental Legal and Policy Clinics in Partnership with Universities

9 The Heart of Partnerships: Working with Environmental and Climate Justice Stakeholders

10 A Student Perspective on Environmental Education at Law School

11 Ethos Warriors: Developing Law Students’ Leadership Skills to Create a More Sustainable Planet

PART 5 Case Studies from Around the World

12 Making Sense of the Climate Crisis: Reflections on the Role of Legal Education for Future Lawyering through a Climate Change & Sustainability Law Clinic

13 Legal Education at the Frontier of the Ecological Transition: A Case Study from Turin

14 Pursuing Environmental Justice through North‑South Collaborations: A Transnational Human Rights and Environmental Law Clinic

15 The Power of Climate Justice ‘Movement Lawyering’ in Legal Education

16 Integrating Climate Change Education in an English Law School

17 Building a Multi‑Modal Effort on Climate and Environmental Justice: The Journey So Far

Conclusion

Biography

Richard Grimes is Professor of Legal Education at New Vision University, Georgia; Visiting Professor at Charles University Czechia; Honorary Professor University of Dundee, Scotland; and an independent legal education and access to justice consultant.

Stephen Levett is Professor and Director of the Sustainability Clinic in York Law School, University of York, UK.

Rebecca Samaras is senior lecturer in Law and Director of Clinical Legal Education, Solicitor and Notary Public in the School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Law, University of Dundee, Scotland.

Rebecca Williams is lecturer in Environmental Law in the School of Law, University of Glasgow, Scotland.

"Climate and environmental justice is a crucial area for law schools to emphasise in their teaching and research endeavours. The editors have enabled the contributors, mostly from the Global North and the UK and USA in particular, to share valuable examples of how we can best help our students learn about legal issues and lawyer responsibilities relating to climate justice. This book provides a basis for other scholars to add their analysis and develop best practices for legal education in this area.”

- Jeff Giddings, Associate Dean, Experiential Education, Faculty of Law, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

"Given the existential crises posed by global warning and the widespread and increasing destruction of the environment, this is a very opportune book. It sounds a clarion call for law schools to take the lead on placing environmental issues at the centre of university curricula, while also offer challenging perspectives on how legal education can be rethought more generally both in terms of teaching methods as well as content. Moreover, by drawing on a wide range of authors from around the world (not just legal academics but also clinicians and environmental activists), it commendably addresses a global problem from a global perspective. As such, it will be an invaluable resource to those concerned to optimise legal education as a means of making a difference to the world in which we live.”

- Donald Nicolson, Professor and Law Clinic Director, Essex Law School, University of Essex, UK

 

"Teaching and Learning Climate and Environmental Justice in Law Schools" compellingly argues for the early integration of climate and environmental justice into legal education. This timely collection not only highlights the necessity of such studies but also provides a practical blueprint for embedding these critical issues within law curriculums globally, making it an essential read for educators, scholars and activists alike.”

- Annalisa Savaresi, Professor of Law Specialising in Environmental and Climate Change Law, University of Stirling, Scotland

 

"As students and lawyers, we’ve surely made a vow to be ever learning – for ourselves, in clients’ interest and for the public good, including that of our Earth. Doing so requires agility and humility and this book directly addresses that. It compels and informs the need for the integration of climate and environmental justice in law schools, equipping and challenging students, prospective lawyers and education professionals in the process.”

- Zainab Aysha Ahmed, York Law School Graduate and Cofounder of Lawyers without Borders Student Division, York