Climate Action Portal Forum

Sophie Marjanac is an internationally recognised expert in climate change law and litigation, human rights and corporate management of climate risk. She leads our Climate Accountability Initative, which focusses on strategic litigation and other legal interventions to drive governments and companies towards reducing their emissions in line with the Paris Agreement. She is the lead lawyer in the ground-breaking Torres Strait Climate Case, which was the first climate case to be brought against the Australian Government on human rights grounds. She also leads the team’s work on corporate accountability for greenhouse gas emissions, and financial sector stewardship on climate risk with high emitting companies. She regularly comments on and writes about climate change law and litigation.

He practices in the area of corporate and real estate law, with particular focus on M&A, financings, real estate acquisitions, international arbitration and general corporate and commercial matters.

Alison Ryan is a Senior Supervising Solicitor at the Refugee Advice and Casework Service (RACS) in Sydney Australia. Alison developed a legal clinic staffed by a large team of pro bono lawyers providing critical free legal services to people seeking protection in Australia. Many of the hundreds of people assisted through the Clinic have fled countries such as Myanmar, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, Iran, Iraq for their safety.

Prior to her work at RACS, for over a decade, Alison managed and worked on a range of legal and human rights programmes in Palestine, Timor Leste, Cambodia and Sri Lanka. Alison holds a Masters of Laws.

In 2017 Alison was awarded Migration Partner of the Year by Lawyers Weekly.