The Pledge was initially drafted by Saskia Stucki, Guillaume Futhazar, and Tom Sparks. The Lead Signatories, alongside numerous other lawyers worldwide, were consulted and provided feedback in the course of a lengthy revision process. The final wording of the Pledge is thus the product, and reflective, of a global collaborative initiative.
Dr Saskia Stucki
First author and co-founder of the Pledge; Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law
“Climate change imperils human rights, women’s rights, children’s rights, animal rights, international peace and security, democracy, and innumerable other important values the law seeks to protect and preserve. This is why lawyers of all kinds, not just environmental lawyers, must integrate and give due consideration to climate concerns within their respective fields of expertise and work. In our own ways, we can all be(come) climate lawyers. Perhaps the Pledge can help catalyse a “Spartacus moment” in the global legal community: I am a climate lawyer. You are a climate lawyer. We all are climate lawyers – and together, we can guide the law to a sustainable future.”
Dr Guillaume Futhazar
Co-author and co-founder of the Pledge; Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law
“Climate change and environmental concerns have to become the factual background against which all legal work is done. Alongside human rights and the rule of law, it has to become a paradigm that infuses all fields. Doing so will not solve the ongoing environmental crises in an instant. The causes are too deeply rooted. However, acknowledging the power of law as an omnipresent tool for sustainable change might provide additional solutions in a fight that is gaining more and more supporters.”
Dr Tom Sparks
Co-author and co-founder of the Pledge; Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law
“There are times for business as usual, and times when more is demanded of us. This is one of those times. We all have a responsibility to use whatever skills and abilities we possess to contribute to solving the climate crisis, and that includes lawyers. Our profession and training give us a unique opportunity to contribute: to safeguard human rights, strengthen the rule of law, and mobilise the tools of law for climate goals. The time to act is now.”
Erik Tuchtfeld
Webdesign and communication; Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law
“The climate crisis is real, and it’s present, not just waiting in the future for us. We need to take action now, on an individual, societal and institutional level. As lawyers, we are confronted with this crisis in decisive situations, may it be in our research, in courtrooms, or during processes of law-making. With such influence comes responsibility. The Pledge addresses this, that’s why I support it.”
Paul Emtsev
Communications Advisor; Public Communication Consultant and Conflict Moderator in Darmstadt, Germany
“It’s good that people talk about climate change and the consequences it has for us and our environment. But unlike many other human challenges, the climate crisis cannot be solved with words alone. We all have to face the responsibility of our lifetime and make a decision: Do we take this historic opportunity to have an impact on this planet?”
The Pledge Blog Editorial Team
Chiara Arena
Managing Editor, Lawyers’ Pledge Blog; Mercator Fellow on Climate Law and Financial Flows
“The legal profession has to choose its side. Will it be an enabler or disabler of a rapid and equitable transition? The role of law in enabling or inhibiting change may sometimes be almost invisible or appear secondary to political will. But law shapes the frame of reference – the conditions within which political and societal discussions take place. It shapes what we perceive to be feasible. Every corner of the legal world has the responsibility to mobilise and change these frames of references to make way for meaningful change.”
Yogi Bratajaya
Editorial Assistant, Lawyers’ Pledge Blog; Batchelor of Laws based in Indonesia
“Climate change is not solely an environmental issue but a justice and human rights issue. It is undisputed that the effects of climate change will severely impact our fundamental human rights, such as the rights to life, health and adequate food. I believe that the pledge is an important tool to shed light on the integral role that the legal community plays to prevent the climate catastrophe and ensure the fulfilment of fundamental human rights around the globe.”
Laura Hildt
Editorial Assistant, Lawyers’ Pledge Blog; Biodiversity Policy Officer at the European Environmental Bureau; Environmental Law Project Lead at Youth and Environment Europe
“The law can and must be a powerful tool to accelerate action to address the climate and ecological crisis and the fundamental global and generational injustice of its effects. The drivers of climate change are linked to all areas of our lives and climate action must therefore also be integrated into all areas of law, through lawyers in all fields and capacities.”
Pınar Özcan
Editorial Assistant, Lawyers’ Pledge Blog; Magister Juris Candidate at the University of Oxford
“A strong sense of fairness and a drive for accountability should underpin the efforts of the global community against the existential challenges that climate change poses. Law plays an important role in achieving this. Not only it can redress the harm that has already materialised, but also it can serve as a transformative tool towards a greener, more sustainable future. Such extensive reach of law justifies the importance attributed to it and places lawyers in a unique position of responsibility to advocate for change, which is urgently needed to address the climate crisis”
Former Team Members
Hannah Foehr (2021-2022)
Student assistant in communications and social media; Law Student at Bucerius Law School, Hamburg
“Climate change affects the way we live our lives and will increasingly do so as time goes on. It also alters the way we can, and should, apply the law – all law, not just environmental law. Climate change should not be a mere topic discussed at the sidelines, during one module at law school. Rather, it should be an underlying theme, addressed throughout the entire syllabus.”