March 27, 2024
Claire Robertson on volunteering with the Blue Pacific Pro Bono Collaborative
The Blue Pacific Pro Bono Collaborative is a partnership between four major law firms – DLA Piper, Norton Rose Fulbright, Ashurst, and Clayton Utz. The Collaborative aims to provide pro bono legal support to satisfy the urgent, unmet legal needs of local partners working at the forefront of the climate crisis in select Pacific Island Countries.
Claire with Blue Pacific Pro Bono Collaborative team
Through AVI and the Collaborative, I spent two weeks seconded to The Secretariat for the Pacific Community (SPC) in Suva, Fiji. Together with Cloe Jolly from Clayton Utz and Litia Nailatikau from the Fiji Law Society, we worked closely with SPC to provide legal advice to the Government of Tuvalu on establishing a UNESCO Global Geopark (UGGP) in the Funafuti Conservation Area. A UGGP is a single, unified geographical area where sites and landscapes of international geological significance are managed with a holistic concept of protection, education, and sustainable development. Our advice was focussed on establishing a management body for the UGGP, as well as broader opportunities, risks and challenges associated with establishing the UGGP.
Preparing the advice has highlighted to me the important work this project is doing to protect and preserve key environmental and heritage sites, as well as promoting long-term climate and economic resilience. I have seen how the UGGP project can provide a clear framework for Pacific Island Countries to adapt to their own circumstances and presents opportunities for capacity building in climate mitigation and adaptation skills. This project has huge potential to deliver long-term environmental and economic benefits to countries throughout the Pacific.
Climate justice is not just about compensating developing countries for the impacts of climate change. Achieving climate justice will require coordinated efforts to implement self-sustaining projects that will not only deliver strong climate mitigation and adaptation outcomes but also provide for the sustainable economic development of Pacific Island Countries. AVI’s partnership with The Collaborative is fundamental to ensuring Pacific Island Countries have access to the necessary technical support to plan and implement climate mitigation and adaptation projects. I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this important work.
Claire Robertson is a solicitor from DLA Piper and one of nine Australian volunteer lawyers who participated in the Blue Pacific Pro Bono Collaborative Pilot.
Claire with Blue Pacific Pro Bono Collaborative team
