A lecture and panel discussion on Environment & Human Rights: Insights from the Aarhus Convention. The lecture will be given by Professor Áine Ryall, Chair of the UNECE Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee, and will be followed by a Q&A with an esteemed panel which includes Professor Maria Lee and FTB Barrister Mark O'Brien O'Reilly (others TBC).
This event marks the end of London Climate Action Week.
The practical information can be found here.
Speakers
Professor Áine Ryall is Chair of the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee. She researches and teaches environmental law, European Union law and climate law at University College Cork where she is a Professor and Co-Director of the Centre for Law & the Environment.
A qualified barrister and internationally recognised expert in environmental law, she has been a member of the Compliance Committee since 2015, elected Vice-Chair in 2017 and Chair in 2021.
Beyond the Compliance Committee, her wide-ranging expertise has led to high-profile public service roles including: membership of the Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland) Review Group; Vice-Chair of the An Bord Pleanála Review Group and advising both the Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change and the Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss. She currently serves on the Audit and Risk Committee of the Environmental Protection Agency, having served two terms as a member of its statutory Advisory Committee.
A long-standing member of the Academic Panel at Francis Taylor Building, she is a Vice-Chair of the Irish Centre for European Law and a member of the Avosetta Group of Experts in EU Environmental Law.
Professor Maria Lee has been a Professor of Law at UCL since 2007, and was director or co-director of the UCL Centre for Law and the Environment for over a decade. She is also a member of chambers' Academic Panel. She has been a member of the editorial committees of a number of journals, including currently the Journal of Environmental Law, and is co-editor of Current Legal Problems.
Maria teaches and researches environmental law and policy, with a long-standing interest in the ways in which law shapes decision-making. Her current areas of work are broadly on the ways in which environmental groups use and understand legal expertise and on planning law. Both of these strands of work relate to long-standing interests in expertise, public participation and democracy in environmental matters. She has also worked on the relationships and interactions between tort law and regulation.
Mark O'Brien O'Reilly is a leading barrister with a growing reputation for experience and skill beyond his call. He is ranked as one of the top junior planning barristers in the country by Planning Magazine’s Planning Law Survey 2024 (and also holds a ranking as one of the top ten planning barristers under the age of 35 with Planning Magazine noting his particular injunction expertise).
Practical Information
Date: 27 June 2025
Venue: Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, EC4M 7EH
Time: Doors open at 17:45, with the lecture and discussion starting promptly at 18:00. It will finish at 19:00 and will be followed by a drinks reception until 20:00.
RSVP: Tickets are charged at £25pp which includes attendance at the drinks reception. All ticket sales will be donated to the Sheriff's and Recorders' Fund. Some free places are available to charities. Please contact cccsecretariat@cityoflondon.gov.uk for more information.
Should the event be sold out, please do add your details to the Eventbrite waiting list.
Entry to the Old Bailey will be via the main entrance where guests must pass through airport style security. Please bring a valid form of photo identification with you.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact cccsecretariat@cityoflondon.gov.uk
This event is sponsored by chambers and hosted by Alderman & Sheriff of the City of London Gregory Jones KC.