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Lawyers sign declaration to withdraw legal services from new fossil fuel projects and charges against climate protesters
An activist from Extinction Rebellion takes part in a ‘Loss and Damage’ protest performance to highlight inequity of loss and damage when it comes to the climate crisis at Pacific Quay alongside the Cop26 summit campus in Glasgow, in November 2021

MORE than 140 prominent lawyers signed a declaration today highlighting their concern that the climate crisis poses an “existential risk to humanity and the rule of law.”

The signatories to the Declaration of Conscience, launched at a demonstration outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, say they will withdraw their legal services from new fossil fuel projects and criminal or civil action against climate protesters.

Between 2017 and 2022 the legal sector globally supported at least $1.62 trillion (£1.3trn) worth of transactions for the fossil fuel industry, according to the Carbon Tracker platform.

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