In a recent Guardian article Cleodie Rickard describes the ECT as “fossil fuel companies’ secret weapon against national climate laws” (Rickard, 2023). The possibility of having to compensate fossil fuel companies with millions, if not billions, in taxpayers money has a ‘chilling effect’. An incentive is created for governments to maintain the status quo and prioritise the interests of corporations over climate justice matters and steps towards ecological transition.

I hope you can sense the enchantment that I felt, and continue to feel, with the Earth and the intricacies and rhythmic changes we can observe each day. Even in a bustling city, you can catch these moments by simply looking up to the sky, and the clouds, colours and creatures held there. Despite all humans have done, the Earth continues to dance and to flourish wherever possible. We must all be eternally grateful for that.

Pollution and environmental damage is not a bi-product of business or something to be compensated for by massive profits but a violation of the rights of all that lives. Our legal systems are not built with eyes that see these crimes with clear vision. It is built to excuse and facilitate them. Individuals from across the world spoke via zoom. They gave evidence and told stories which described a planet on which morals and basic human values have, in heartbreakingly many cases, decomposed.