We are delighted to announce the winner of our law undergraduate essay competition 2022-2023!

The response to the competition was excellent with submissions from law undergraduates at universities from across England, Wales and Scotland, and one from Brazil. We thank all entrants for taking part and for engaging with the question:

‘What difference can lawyers make in tackling the climate emergency?’

Congratulations to all the entrants for the depth of your research, and the insights and ideas you have put forward which will contribute to understanding the many ways that lawyers can make a difference in tackling the climate emergency. All entrants demonstrated a clear sense of the urgency around the climate emergency, and the need to respond using the law as a powerful tool to deliver climate justice and to inhibit further degradation of the planet.

Having judged the final round, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd and Lord Carnwath of Notting Hill CVO announce the winner in this film.

Overall winner: Clarissa Wong, London School of Economics

Runner up: Nurisabela Amira Shah, London School of Economics

Many congratulations to Clarissa for your thought provoking and well written essay.

Clarissa will be undertaking a day’s internship in the London office of international law firm Latham & Watkins and four days with the LexisNexis PSL Environment team over the summer. Our thanks to Latham & Watkins, and LexisNexis for offering this wonderful opportunity to the winner. Clarissa’s essay will be published on our website and in Thought Leaders 4Fire newsletter and the IBA’s Litigation newsletter. We will also publish the runner up’s essay on the ILBF website.

Our thanks to all of the judges and in particular to Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd and Lord Carnwath of Notting Hill CVO for the final judging and their support for the competition.

We would also like to thank Latham & Watkins for sponsoring the competition this year and their invaluable support for the ILBF’s mission.

We wish all the entrants to our law undergraduate essay competition the very best of luck in their future careers.  

Let’s keep the climate emergency in the forefront of debate, news and legal practice: in due course we will publish a grand summary of all the ideas in the submitted essays.

ILBF judging team:

• The Rt Hon. Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, founder and Patron of the ILBF
• The Rt Hon. Lord Carnwath of Notting Hill CVO, former Supreme Court Justice, Visiting Professor in Practice at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, and founding member of the EU Forum of Judges for the Environment, and of the Global Institute of Judges for the Environment
• Jane Colston, Brown Rudnick and ILBF Trustee
• Sophia Dirir, Head of Legal, Cancer Research UK and ILBF trustee
• Dr Tawanda Hondora, Head, Rule of Law, Governance and Peace Directorate at the Commonwealth Secretariat, ILBF trustee
• Maryann McMahon, Council Member Justice and ILBF Trustee
• Katrina Crossley, CEO of the ILBF
• Ellen Lake, Clifford Chance and ILBF Operating Committee
• Sarah Trotter, Assistant Professor of Law, London School of Economics and Political Science, ILBF Operating Committee
• Carla Lewis, Clifford Chance
• Chiara Iorizzo, McDermott, Will & Emery
• James Yang, Procter and Gamble