The Power of Law

Making companies accountable

Keynote 1: Marie-Laure Guislain
As Head of Litigation for French legal association Sherpa’s ’Globalisation and Human Rights Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)’ programme, MarieLaure Guislain works on litigation concerning various environmental crimes by transnational companies. She will expose the Chevron case in the Ecuadorian Amazon in relation to access to justice and CSR international instruments.

Keynote 2: Peter De Smedt
A 2016 verdict by the Constitutional Court of Belgium opened the door to make polluters pay a lot more than the symbolic euro for damage to the environment.
Belgian lawyer Peter De Smedt, who won a case at the Constitutional Court, will explain how the prevailing practice of only paying the symbolic euro hurts the environment and what the implications of this jurisprudence are.

Keynote 3: Maria Kleis-Walravens
Maria Kleis-Walravens is Project Leader of the EU Group Climate and Energy at ClientEarth. Maria works actively to achieve a EU state aid framework which effectively stops Member State funding of activities that are harmful to the environment and hinder the achievement of a clean, low-carbon and sustainable energy market. Maria will provide concrete examples which show how state aid rules can be used to achieve a better climate.

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