The Queen Mary Legal Advice Centre marks the 7th Student Law Clinic Global Day of Action Against Climate Change

21 November 2025

The GDA is an annual event held on the 17th of November. On this day each year, law clinics across the world commit to doing one action to help tackle the climate emergency. As members of the Climate Justice Pledge, we take part every year. The initiative was founded in 2019 by the University of York, with the belief that university legal clinics should be at the forefront of raising awareness of the climate emergency and, where possible, supporting efforts to address it.

This year, the theme was “Decarbonisation: A Just Transition.”

Decarbonisation refers to the process of reducing or eliminating carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions from human activities, primarily by transitioning away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy sources. Our student team worked together for four weeks and decided that the best way to raise awareness of decarbonisation was to combine legal education with interactive activities, creating an engaging environment to draw students in.

The team created a legislative-themed game in which students were encouraged to complete an online form (to save paper, of course!). The form prompted students to creatively propose a new law they would introduce to help the environment. After completing the form, participants were invited to take a shot at a basketball hoop (with a ball made from recycled paper), and those who scored won a plant - a prize that also contributed to supporting the environment.

This activity reflected the theme of decarbonisation by encouraging students to think actively about climate change, consider what they would do differently to tackle the issue, and explore future ways of helping the environment.

In addition, by giving away plants, the team supported decarbonisation efforts, as plants act as natural carbon sinks, they absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) through photosynthesis and store the carbon in their biomass.

The combination of legal-themed games and the opportunity to win plants encouraged students to think creatively and engage with climate issues in a meaningful way.

This year we combined these activities with the London Legal Support Trust’s Great Legal Bake, additionally raising money for frontline legal advice.

The event was organised and delivered by undergraduate students Ellisha Roye, Rio Widdowson, Stefan Koini, Diya Jhajhria, Ishan Rajan Kolath, Kelly Nguyen, Anshita Nanda and Archi Gandhi, alongside staff members Zehra Sonerman and Katy Robinson, who worked collaboratively to raise awareness about decarbonisation. Thank you to all!