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Contact

Contact with chambers should be made through the Practice Management Team. They are happy to discuss client requirements and provide further information on such matters as the expertise and experience of individual members, fees, working practices and languages spoken. We have members able to work in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Greek and Chinese (Mandarin).

Outside working hours, a member of our team is always available to be contacted on matters of an urgent nature. Contact should be made using the Chambers main number or email.

Visiting Twenty Essex: Our London premises welcome guests at No 23 Essex Street. Step-free access is available via Milford Lane, with elevator access to all floors in No 23.

Singapore office: For client enquiries please contact our Head of BD, Asia Pacific, Katie-Beth Jones, and for all other queries please contact Lynn Quek. Out-of-office-hours calls will automatically be diverted to our practice management team in London.

London

20 Essex Street
London
WC2R 3AL

[email protected]
t: +44 20 7842 1200

Singapore

28 Maxwell Road
#02-03 Maxwell Chambers Suites
Singapore 069120

[email protected]
t: +65 62257230

Contact

Contact with chambers should be made through the Practice Management Team. They are happy to discuss client requirements and provide further information on such matters as the expertise and experience of individual members, fees, working practices and languages spoken. We have members able to work in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Greek and Chinese (Mandarin).

Outside working hours, a member of our team is always available to be contacted on matters of an urgent nature. Contact should be made using the Chambers main number or email.

Visiting Twenty Essex: Our London premises welcome guests at No 23 Essex Street. Step-free access is available via Milford Lane, with elevator access to all floors in No 23.

Singapore office: For client enquiries please contact our Head of BD, Asia Pacific, Katie-Beth Jones, and for all other queries please contact Lynn Quek. Out-of-office-hours calls will automatically be diverted to our practice management team in London.

London

20 Essex Street
London
WC2R 3AL

[email protected]
t: +44 20 7842 1200

Singapore

28 Maxwell Road
#02-03 Maxwell Chambers Suites
Singapore 069120

[email protected]
t: +65 62257230

23/07/2025

International Court of Justice issues advisory opinion on the obligations of states in respect of climate change

A number of Twenty Essex barristers represented state parties in the ICJ proceedings, which concluded with the publication today (23 July 2025) of the court’s opinion.

The proceedings, instigated by a request from the UN General Assembly in March 2023, saw more than 90 initial written submissions and nearly 100 states participate in a two-week hearing in The Hague in December 2024, alongside around a dozen international organisations.

– Download the ICJ advisory opinion | summary | press release

Opinions on international climate change obligations have also been given by the International Tribunal on the Law of Sea (ITLOS) in May 2024, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (CIDH) earlier in July 2025.

Twenty Essex barristers who acted or advised in the ICJ proceedings include:

  • Sir Daniel Bethlehem KC, for Albania
  • Sir Michael Wood KC, for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
  • Simon Olleson, Courtney Grafton, Paolo Busco and Kevin Lee, for the United Arab Emirates
  • Penelope Nevill and Belinda McRae, for the United Kingdom
  • Monica Feria-Tinta, for the Kingdom of Tonga
  • Kate Parlett, for Australia
  • Prof Philippa Webb, for Tuvalu
  • Manuel Casas, for Malawi
  • Brendan Plant, for Samoa.