May 25, 2023

In April of 2022, Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers BC (FACL BC) hosted an event entitled “The Legal Community’s Responsibility to Address the Climate Crisis.” At this event, the idea was raised to bring forward a resolution at the Law Society of BC (LSBC)’s 2022 Annual General Meeting (AGM). FACL BC members put forward Resolution 4: Member Resolution regarding the Role of Lawyers in Addressing Climate Change, which unfortunately didn’t pass. 

This April, FACL BC hosted another event on this topic to raise awareness and stimulate discussion about the legal community’s role in addressing climate change, as well as to solicit feedback on this year’s draft resolution that will be brought to the LSBC’s June 27th 2023 AGM.* As Dr Carol Liao stated in her op-ed encouraging lawyers to vote in last year’s AGM: “lawyers can’t ignore climate change.” 

Resources

Climate Change

• Canada’s Changing Climate Report, Government of Canada

• Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples: Disproportionate Impact and Opportunities for Inclusion, ABS Canada

• References re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, 2021 SCC 11

• Global Climate Litigation Report: 2020 Status Review, United Nations Environment Programme 

• Global Trends in Climate Change Litigation: 2021 Snapshot, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy

Addressing Climate Change in All Sectors of the Legal Profession

• Gore Says Climate Change "Not a Political Issue", Thomson Reuters 

• Climate Conscious Lawyering, Lawyers for Climate Justice

• Professionals and Climate Change: How Professional Associations Can Get Serious about Global Warming, West Coast Environmental Law

Other Professional Legal Associations’ Climate Resolutions

• Changement Climatique – Résolution, Barreau du Québec 

• Climate Crisis Statement, International Bar Association

• Climate Resolution, American Bar Association

• Climate Change Resolution and Guidance Directives, Law Society of England and Wales

• Climate Change Policy, Law Council of Australia 

Other BC and Canadian Professional Associations’ Climate Resolutions

• Planning Institute of BC

• College of Applied Biologists of BC

• BC Society of Landscape Architects

• Association of BC Forest Professionals

• Engineers and Geoscientists BC

• Canadian Medical Association

• Chartered Professional Accountants Canada

• Ontario Society of Professional Engineers