Client Earth

About the organization

ClientEarth is an environmental organisation that uses the law to create systemic change and a future where people and planet thrive together.

Working in partnerships across borders, systems and sectors, ClientEarth works with the law at every stage, from drafting new laws, to implementing existing ones and holding governments and businesses to account when they don’t comply with them.

We are in a biodiversity crisis. Overexploitation of land and sea for food production is one of its key causes and is a major driver of climate change. As one of the world´s biggest agri-food traders, the EU could lead by example and set high environmental and health standards that will apply not only within Europe, but globally.

With their teams of legal experts, ClientEarth can develop the robust legal frameworks we need to protect wildlife and habitats and drive systemic change to Europe’s food systems. Their approach is rooted in an innovative use of legal tools – engaging in litigation, advocacy, and building effective environmental governance (the policy and rules that guide decision-making).

Stiftung Zukunft jetzt! and ClientEarth both seek to stop climate change, protect nature and ensure the preservation of a world worth living in. The partnership focuses on ClientEarth´s activities which use the law to protect the health of communities, nature and wildlife across Europe.

Highlights of the above work areas are as follows:

Protecting Europe’s nature

ClientEarth’s lawyers provided important legal expertise to protect the Nature Restoration Law (NRL). The team engaged with relevant stakeholders at EU and national level to encourage them to amend the law and introduce clearer targets and obligations during the next stage of the legislative procedure. In June 2024, after a nail-biting last discussion and a tumultuous journey through EU legislation, the EU Environmental Council finally adopted the Nature Restoration Law (NRL), marking the last step for this long-awaited proposal to become law. This outcome is a huge win for Europe’s nature, climate action, citizens and future generations.

Protecting Lake Vico

Lake Vico, not far from Rome, is a Natura 2000 site and the primary source of drinking water for residents. However, intensive agricultural activities led to an increase in fertiliser and pesticide use, which run off into the lake. This has had terrible consequences for local habitats and made the water undrinkable for the local community.

ClientEarth’s work on this case goes back several years. ClientEarth and partner Lipu-BirdLife Italy initially sent letters of warning to the public administration of the Lazio region in June 2022.

Following unsatisfactory responses, they took the authorities to court in October 2022.

The case was divided in three “branches”, to enforce the EU Drinking Water, Nitrates and Habitats Directives. These are key pieces of EU legislation designed to protect nature and public health across Europe

In October 2023, news of a positive ruling was received concerning the Drinking Water Directive. The Italian Council of State ordered the authorities to tackle the out-of-control toxification of the lake. However, the authorities only adopted measures that circumvent this ruling. Therefore, in October 2024, ClientEarth followed up in Court to make sure the ruling is duly complied with. A hearing will take place in 2025.

In November 2023, a second successful outcome was achieved. The Lazio authorities were urged to designate the area a Nitrates Vulnerable Zone. In compliance with the Court, the authorities notified us that they have formally designated the lake and its catchment area as a Nitrates Vulnerable Zone. This is an area particularly susceptible to high nitrate levels due to agriculture and requires management plans to reduce nitrate pollution.

Finally, in a result that was far better than expected, in May 2024, the Italian Council of State – one of Italy’s top courts – ordered the Lazio region to take immediate action to ‘reverse’ the destruction of protected habitats. This was the first time an Italian Court recognised the obligation to reverse the destruction of habitats following a proactive enforcement of the Habitats Directive. This result was a major win for nature and ClientEarth continues to closely monitor the measures to be put in place by the Lazio authorities.

Traceable supply chains

West Africa is home to some of the world’s richest forests. However, these forests are disappearing fast. This is accelerated by high demand from the EU for products linked to deforestation like timber and cocoa. ClientEarth is working with local lawyers and communities in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire to implement new legal frameworks that minimise the risk of deforestation-linked products entering the EU market.

EU Deforestation Regulation

This groundbreaking law, adopted in 2023, bans products associated with deforestation from EU supply chains. To help with the law’s implementation, ClientEarth and their partners held several workshops in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire to discuss local monitoring of logging activities and a regulatory framework for cocoa compliance with the regulation.

EU Côte d’Ivoire Regulation

In February 2024, Côte d’Ivoire and the European Union made a major agreement to protect and restore Côte d’Ivoire’s forests. For almost a decade, ClientEarth worked on this deal, known as the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance, and Trade (FLEGT) to ensure it supports the needs of local communities.

Now only businesses with a licence will be able to export timber to the EU and the wood will have to pass a robust test to verify its legality. This is a crucial step in ensuring traceability in European supply chains and combatting the devastating effects of illegal logging in West Africa. ClientEarth is continuing to engage with forest communities to ensure they have the knowledge, access and legal tools they need to meaningfully contribute to the deal’s implementation in Côte d’Ivoire.