A significant danger that is only now being appreciated by more sectors of society is the indelible impact that humans have made on the planet. Climate change, according to Columbia University, will affect every one of us, regardless of color, class, creed, or religion. However, while we look at the gloom-and-doom aspect of climate change, many lawyers see a shift in their practices. More and more legal professionals are incorporating climate change into their training. Even universities have started offering courses that are focused on how climate change impacts the legal profession. But how is climate change actually beneficial to environmental law?

A Formerly Niche Field

All About Law mentions that, in the recent past, environmental law was seen as a specialized, yet low-demand field. However, we are seeing all around us how ecological impacts are affecting the lives of ordinary human beings. From the bushfires in Australia and California to the lack of ice covering on Greenland, all of these things have shifted focus to addressing the looming climate change problem. World leaders and activists both have opinions (usually in the opposite direction) of dealing with this issue. At the heart of it is a legal system that should seek the best interests of humanity while considering the environment's importance.

Massive Legal Work Coming for Environmental Lawyers

As the world starts to face the pending challenge head-on, environmental law will become even more critical. Not to say that there won't be a place for malpractice law firms like seattlemalpracticelawyers.com, but the cases they handle may have more of a focus on environmental issues as time goes on. Public pressure will see more of these lawyers specialized in the environment enter the public eye. For them and their firms, the goal is to ensure fairness throughout the climate change crisis and facilitate a balance between government intervention and market forces. Without both of these stakeholders involved, any attempt at solving this crisis will cause more chaos.

Seeing The Big Picture

Climate change knowledge is essential, but it's not the only thing that these lawyers need to arm themselves with. They need to display quick, yet flexible thinking to face the unique challenges that this field presents. Environmental lawyers will tend to focus on advisory work and corporate oversight. They may also be necessary to help governments draft and finalize legislation to help deal with the threat of climate change. Because of their positions in government and multinational corporations, these lawyers are in a unique spot to effect real social, economic, and legal reform to benefit us all.

A Rising Profession

Environmental law is still on the fringes of the legal practice, but for how much longer that remains true is anyone's guess. With each day, the world moves a step closer to irreversible damage to the climate. We can do what we can as individuals to slow the process, but without a full and clear legislative push by governments, those small changes may not be cumulative enough to bring about genuine change. It may be up to environmental lawyers to save us from ourselves through the smart implementation of legislation.