
To celebrate the forthcoming updates to our Law and Climate Atlas UK and US, we talked to two student interns who worked on the project at the Centre for Climate Engagement over the summer of 2024. Richelle Khor and Camilo Andres Cornejo Martinez discuss their research and how they hope the resource will help lawyers and law firms.

When and why did you first become interested in the topic of climate change?
Richelle: I became interested in climate change when I was doing a vacation scheme with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP in December 2023. When I perceived how climate change intersects with competition law, I immediately wanted to know more about its impact on other areas of laws.
Camilo: My interest in environmental work began in a legal office, where I contributed to two major cases—one involving mining and the other renewable energy. In Chile, a mining-dependent country facing historic drought, these cases deeply affected indigenous and local communities, touching on issues of water access and energy production. I realised my role was both advancing and constraining climate solutions, which fueled my desire to contribute meaningfully despite these contradictions.
Since then, I’ve researched community-based climate policy proposals, using Punta Arenas in southern Chile as a case study. During my time at Chile’s Second Environmental Court, I explored how courts incorporate environmental concerns into the rule of law. Although my questions have deepened and I’ve often reached the limits of my knowledge, my commitment to climate solutions has only strengthened, driving me to apply my skills effectively in this field.
How did you first hear about the Law and Climate Atlas and what made you apply for the internship?
Richelle: I first heard about the Law and Climate Atlas when I was doing independent research into climate laws. I found the information incredibly useful, and the way it is presented in a digestible manner makes it easy for people to have a quick understanding of the intersection between climate change and law. I thought that doing an internship would give me unparalleled exposure to learn from industry leading professionals while leveraging the Centre’s resources. Therefore, I applied the second I saw an opening became available.
Camilo: I discovered the Climate Atlas in late 2022 while researching my LLM dissertation. Its unique approach—linking legal areas to climate issues—helped me visualize how legal principles address climate challenges. When I saw the internship opportunity, I was excited to join a project that had been invaluable to me, and to learn from experts in the field. This role also aligned perfectly with my PhD research on Just Transition, offering a unique chance to explore the intersection of legal frameworks, climate law, and global challenges alongside CCE’s knowledge community.
What did you do during the internship?
Richelle: I worked closely with Nick, who supervised me in updating the Law and Climate Atlas. I had the opportunity to conduct legal research across different areas of laws such as employment law, financial law, company law, investment arbitration law, and tort law, and draft articles based on my findings. Another interesting task that I worked on was a project in collaboration with The Chancery Lane Project, during which I conducted literature review of the climate contracts in jurisdictions around the world.
Camilo: I worked with the CCE team on the 2024 Climate Atlas update, focusing on recent changes in how legal fields intersect with climate change. This involved analysing two key questions: the depth of climate concerns across legal fields and how areas like maritime and consumer law are driving climate action. The work required in-depth research, comparative and blackletter analyses, and balancing legal nuances with accessibility for a broad audience. This experience offered valuable insights into the evolution of climate law and allowed me to deepen my understanding across multiple legal domains.
What did you learn about the law and climate change during your research and were there any surprises?
Richelle: What amazed and continues to amaze me is how climate change challenges our conventional understanding of various legal concepts. Take the concept of the duty of care in tort law as an example. More discussions are surfacing as to whether duty of care should be extended to preventing climate change. In the judgment by the Hague District Court in Milieudefensie v Royal Dutch Shell, we see the Court taking a broadly similar, but somewhat tailored approach to interpreting duty of care in relation to climate risks. I look forward to seeing how the law could be further developed to better address climate change.
Camilo: The experience was both fascinating and eye-opening. Four trends particularly stood out:
- Climate impacts are evolving rapidly, with legal responses striving to keep pace—though sometimes overshadowed by the lack of ambitious global agreements.
- Tracking progress is challenging, but tools like the Climate Atlas reveal shifts in rules, precedents, and legal interpretations, such as the Paris Agreement’s evolution from an environmental treaty to a human rights instrument.
- Certain fields, like consumer law, are responding in unexpected ways—e.g., greenwashing claims are shaping accountability and stakeholder actions, making it hard to predict which areas will drive the next wave of responses and to assess consistency across jurisdictions.
- From a socio-legal and decolonial perspective, geopolitics heavily influences climate law. Cases like Montana and policies like the EU Green Deal show the diversity in responses, while the limited influence of some regions in jurisdictions like the UK and US is equally revealing. This diversity challenges the “universality” of legal approaches, highlights knowledge gaps, and uncovers areas for future research.
Why is the Law and Climate Atlas important and who might find it useful?
Richelle: The Law and Climate Atlas is important because it provides a wide range of stakeholders with concise guidance on how to respond and adapt to climate change. I believe that industry practitioners and business owners would find it particularly useful. For instance, the section regarding climate change and financial law clarifies the disclosure obligations a business may have in relation to its sustainability commitments. As for industry practitioners, the Law and Climate Atlas enables them to anticipate future client needs.
Camilo: The Climate Atlas is a valuable platform providing a unique perspective on climate’s wide-ranging legal impacts. As law struggles to meet climate demands consistently, the Atlas plays multiple roles: it enables users to explore each legal area’s response to climate issues and assess how these areas align with climate goals. It also highlights diverse approaches across jurisdictions and maps unexpected intersections between laws and climate objectives. The Atlas benefits a wide audience—climate practitioners, judges, researchers, and non-legal professionals interested in the role of law in climate solutions—making it a key resource for understanding legal frameworks for climate action.
How did you develop professionally during the internship, and did it change the way you think about law and climate change?
Richelle: The internship sharpened my legal research skills and taught me how to translate complex concepts into digestible information. It made me perceive the disastrous, extensive consequences of climate change and that everyone should play their role in mitigating climate change. I wish to deepen my participation in climate laws, and I look forward to future opportunities.
Camilo: This internship challenged me on multiple levels, expanding my knowledge of climate law. I strengthened my doctrinal analysis skills, gained new ideas for my research, and benefited from learning alongside CCE’s dedicated legal team. The experience underscored the need for collaborative, multidisciplinary responses to climate change, providing valuable insights into law’s role in both facilitating and hindering effective climate action. I’m eager to apply lessons from this experience—such as identifying and replicating best practices across jurisdictions—in my future work. My time with CCE has energised me to pursue new challenges, and I hope my contributions added value to the project and to advancing climate resilience through law.
Are you interested in future internship opportunities with the CCE? We’ll recruit for summer placements in spring 2025. Follow us on social media and/or sign up for our newsletter here.