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Christmas newsletter Newsletter December 2010  Season's greetings from ClientEarth! 2010 has been very good to us. We opened our Warsaw office, expanded our staff from 17 to 33, doubled our funding and moved into our new London office at London Fields. Most importantly, we expanded the range and depth of our work. Here are a few highlights from 2010... The first case we ever filed was ClientEarth v. UK. In August we won the case, striking a great blow for access to justice. We alleged that the high court costs in the UK are illegal under an international treaty, the Aarhus Convention. The Convention says citizens shall have access to justice that is not prohibitively expensive. But in the UK if you go to court and lose, you may have to pay a million pounds in costs to the other side. As a result of our case, this will have to change in environmental cases. The UK now says it will bring its cost rules into line with the law and we’re working to make sure they do. We launched three lawsuits against the EU for a lack of transparency. Two allege that the Commission is concealing documents that show the EU policy on biofuels will harm the environment. While refusing to release the documents, the EU has now promised to produce a report on tackling the downside of biofuels. To protect tropical forests, we spearheaded efforts for a new Europe-wide law that bans the import of illegally harvested rainforest timber. We drafted much of the law, and moved it through the European Parliament and Council in record time. It will protect rainforest species, indigenous people, and reduce carbon discharge. After the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the European Parliament asked us if laws existed to deal with similar spills in Europe. We discovered there are not, and developed proposals for new laws to plug the gap. The European Commission is now working for the law we proposed. We are excited to announce that leading rock band Coldplay became our patrons. The band said: “ClientEarth is at the forefront of changing the way the planet's resources are governed. They have a positive and pragmatic approach to environmental issues, improving and enforcing environmental law. Coldplay are proud to support them.” Have a listen to their Christmas single! Thank you for all your support in 2010. We’re really looking forward to an even more exciting 2011. Have a very merry Christmas and we’ll see you all in the New Year! Best wishes and high hopes for the year ahead,  James Thornton CEO, ClientEarth Click here to make a donation to ClientEarth ClientEarth is funded by the generous support of philanthropic foundations and engaged individuals and with operational support from the European Commission’s Life+ programme
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