Environmental whistleblowing

Legal Voices for the Future presents the March 2024 Knowledge Session, focused on Environmental Whistleblowing, hosted in partnership with the Grantham Research Institute and Protect.

Presentation

Speak up, stop environmental harm.

This session will explore how whistleblowing can help save the planet, drawing on the work of Protect, the UK’s leading whistleblowing charity.

By exposing wrongdoing and providing information, whistleblowers help ensure that organisations are accountable for their climate impact, action is taken to prevent environmental harm, and there is appropriate intervention where required.

This session will focus on:

• Discussing the pivotal role of whistleblowing in driving meaningful change
• Exploring real-world examples of successful environmental whistleblowing disclosures
• Considering how to safely and effectively raise environmental concerns in light of the limited legal protection of whistleblowers.

Protect’s Alice Norga and Caitlín Comins will lead the substantive session.

Interview with an expert

This session will include an interdisciplinary panel of experts who will discuss their experience of working with environmental whistleblowers, as well as key challenges and strategies for effective environmental whistleblowing:

Johannes Stefansson, Fishrot Scandal Whistleblower: Johannes blew the whistle on what became known as the “Fishrot” corruption scandal. He exposed that Iceland’s largest fishing company Samerji paid Namibian government officials in exchange for access to profitable fishing quotas. The bribes totalled at least US$20 million, with Namibian authorities identifying suspicious transfers amounting to US$700 million. Johannes initially reported the case to Namibian authorities in August 2018 and later informed Icelanding authorities in October 2019. He has since faced intense intimidation, including threats to his life and suspected poisoning attempts. Despite these challenges, Johannes is set to travel to Namibia later this year to provide testimony. He will join the event virtually.

Josephine Moulds, Investigative Journalist, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism: Josephine is an award-winning investigative journalist working on the Bureau’s project looking into banks, financial institutions and climate change. She has been a financial journalist for over 15 years, working in-house at the Guardian and the Telegraph and freelancing extensively for the Times. She has written about companies suing governments for taking climate action, traders shorting climate risk, and conducted an investigation into the UK’s energy from waste scandal.

Bob Matheson, Associate Solicitor, Leigh Day: Bob Matheson is an associate solicitor at the human rights law firm, Leigh Day. Leigh Day is one of the leading law firms in claimant, and public interest, environmental litigation. It’s practice not only cover legal action in the UK but also against the acts of UK companies around the world. Bob’s work at Leigh Day is focused on representing whistleblowers whose cases have an international, or cross-border, component. His clients have generally uncovered large scale wrongdoing or harm whilst working for western multi-nationals in the global south, and then have found their careers effectively ended when they have tried to bring these abuses to light. Before joining Leigh Day, Bob worked for the whistleblowing NGO Protect (formerly Public Concern at Work) for seven years, where he was the organisation’s Head of Advice & Advocacy.

Interactive session

Guests will be invited to take part in a short discussion to reflect on environmental whistleblowing within their organisation or industry and how responsible environmental whistleblowing can be encouraged.

Resources

Protect’s Environmental Whistleblowing Toolkit

Johannes Stefansson, the Fishrot Whistleblower explores the importance of environmental whistleblowing

Join us online

To be as inclusive as possible, we run our events in a hybrid format. If you are not in London for our third knowledge session, please do join us online!

How to join

Book your free place for the in person or online event here

About Legal Voices for the Future
Legal Voices for the Future is a collaborative knowledge-sharing forum established by young practitioners from different fields of law, whose objective is to give voice to a new generation of lawyers. We do so by holding monthly knowledge sessions open to everyone – lawyers and non-lawyers alike. In order to bring fresh perspective, innovation and determination to pressing global issues such as climate change, each session is organised and led by a different member of Legal Voices for the Future.
Find out more here