Law Society hosts specialist environmental debate on loss of biodiversity

2 February 2012

Loss of Biodiversity was the topic of discussion at the latest 'Castle Debate', held at the Law Society last night.

The free debate, chaired by Pamela Castle OBE, focused on the current rate of decline in biodiversity at global, national and regional levels.

The event boasted a wide range of leading expert speakers including Sir Graham Wynne, former Chief Executive, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Niall Watson, Programmes Legal Adviser at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)-UK and Robin Mortimer, Director Biodiversity Programme, The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

They considered the fact that the 2010 conservation targets set by the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2001 have not been reached. The Government addressed the issue in its White Paper 'The Natural Choice: securing the value of nature' following Sir John Lawton's review of England's wildlife and ecological networks.

Commenting on the decline in biodiversity, Sir Graham Wynne said,“It is possible to halt the spiral of decline and the economic and social case for doing so is overwhelming but it will require decision makers to see the bigger picture and beyond the three year horizon.”

Niall Watson of the WWF added,“To be meaningful, our laws and policies need to reflect the fact that biodiversity is a “must have” rather than a “nice to have”.

The Law Society has thrown its weight behind this second programme of Castle Debates, a series of high level environmental debates with leading scientific, legal and governmental speakers, organised in association with Sykes Environmental and sponsored by the ENDS Report.

The Law Society is supporting this series of events as part of its commitment to managing, monitoring and reducing the environmental impact of its own operations as well as working with its members to support the collective reduction of the profession's carbon footprint and adoption of more environmentally sustainable practices through the Legal Sector Alliance.

Solicitors and wider members of the legal profession are invited to attend the forthcoming debate, which will be held at the Law Society.

Law Society Chief Executive Desmond Hudson said:'Acting on climate change is in our collective interest, individually, as businesses and as a profession. The clients and employees of law firms across England and Wales recognise that immediate action to reduce our adverse impact on the planet's resources is necessary and imperative. Being a member of the Legal Sector Alliance is an opportunity to demonstrate commitment and enables firms to share best practice and understanding of current industry trends.”

Pamela Castle, OBE, Chair of the Castle debates, said: “The purpose of these Debates is to provide objective and factual clarification on a wide range of environmental issues which are fundamental to our future health and prosperity, emphasising the crucial roles of law and regulation and Government policy”.

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