To simplify or not to simplify: implications and reflections on the EU Omnibus Package

Lara Douvartzidis is a Senior Legal Executive at the Net Zero Lawyers Alliance. Prior to that she worked in the Legal Policy and Research Unit at the IBA in environment, climate and business and human rights law. She has experience as Delegate Lead for UNFCCC and COP engagement and is an Associate Fellow with the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law. She is an Australian qualified lawyer with a practice background in Sydney as a solicitor and Pro Bono coordinator at Johnson Winter & Slattery and at Australia’s Public Interest Advocacy Centre. During her time in private practice, she advised and acted for corporate and pro bono clients with expertise in environment and planning law, dispute resolution and class actions, ESG and modern slavery law obligations and transitional issues faced by clients in these emerging areas. She is passionate about strategic climate litigation trends, First Nations justice, just transitions, and ESG related risk management and compliance. She served as the Associate to the Honourable Chief Justice Kourakis of the Supreme Court of South Australia. She holds an Advanced Masters in European and International Human Rights Law (Ad. LLM) from Leiden University in The Netherlands and a double degree in Law (LLB) and Environmental Policy and Management (BEnvs) from the University of Adelaide, South Australia. She was listed as an Australasian Rising Star in 2021, a Finalist in the Australian Lawyers Weekly 30 Under 30 Awards for Planning, Native Title and Environment Law in 2021, and a Finalist in the Women in Law Awards for Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year in 2020 and 2021.

I am a Partner at South African leading law firm, Webber Wentzel. I practice as an environmental regulatory and sustainability lawyer. I have experience in conducting environmental due diligence investigations and legal audits, as well as contractual drafting and drafting legal opinions on a range of procedural, substantive and regulatory queries. I have also assisted clients engaged in environmental permitting applications, prosecutions and appeals / administrative enforcement proceedings. I regularly research and compile informative pieces and client alerts on legislative amendments and regulatory / policy updates in environmental and sustainability regimes and have drafted a textbook chapter and contributed environmental knowledge to various institutional platforms. My experience extends to advising clients on ESG-related and, more recently, BHR-dedicated impacts, risks and opportunities, such as opining on strategic environmental and climate change related laws and policies, advising in support of project development and strategic M&A activity, establishing and reviewing governance systems and procedures, conducting regulatory and institutional framework mapping, and conducting business and human rights due diligence. Between September 2018 and June 2021, I was on a weekly secondment at Ivanhoe Mines, where I was first exposed to and involved in BHR work for Ivanhoe’s DRC mining operations. In 2022, I spent six months at our alliance firm, Linklaters LLP, in London on a secondment to their ESG team. I was recently also seconded to Ivanhoe’s DRC mining operation to assist with the identification of the building blocks necessary to establish a dedicated Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) function on site.​ I have an LLB degree and BCom Management degree from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Clara is the partner head of the Business and Human Rights area at TozziniFreire Advogados. Within over 10 years of experience at TozziniFreire, she works in prevention, strategic planning, and litigation involving Human Rights impacts on the production chain of business activity. Her activities include the elaboration of internal policies, training, contractual mechanisms appropriate to the prevention and remedy of Human Rights violations. Clara has experience negotiating with supervisory bodies (such as the Public Defender's Office and the Public Prosecutor's Office), conflict resolution in legal disputes, mediation and arbitration, consultations with the affected community, among others. She conducts due diligence and develops Human Rights Compliance programs. She is TozziniFreire's pro bono coordinator, with experience in philanthropic activities, strategic litigation, advocacy, and social impact businesses. She coordinated award-winning projects, such as the Mutirão Jurídico in Heliópolis and the Guide for the Rights of People with Intellectual Disabilities. Clara is also a private mediator and has worked in Public Law and Environment Law at the São Paulo Court of Justice. Additional Activities: - Member of the ESG Commission of IBRADEMP (Brazilian Institute of Business Law); - Co-leader of the Thematic Chamber of Social Impact of CEBDS (Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development). - Membership Officer of the IBA Business Human Rights Committee - Member of the ESG Committee of CFA Society Brazil. - Member of the Diversity and Social Responsibility Committee of CESA (Center for Studies of the Law Firm). - Member of São Paulo’s BAR Committee on Third Sector Law, and Coordinator of its core on ESG, Civil Society Organizations and Human Rights.. - Member of the CSR Committee of the World Law Group. - Master degree in Constitutional Law, with research on consensual solutions on human rights conflicts. - Coordinator of the Study Group on Business and Human Rights of the University of PUC-SP. - Author of several articles, booklets, and chapters on human rights – link.

Markus is incoming Chair of Public International Law at the European University Viadrina, Germany. He sits as an independent arbitrator and provides expert advice for private clients, law firms, NGOs, international organisations, and states on matters of international law, EU law, sustainability, and supply chains. He has acted in cases before ICSID, ICC, DIS, and ad hoc tribunals as well as before the Austrian Supreme Court. The European Commission includes him in the list of individuals suitable for the position of Arbitrator and Trade and Sustainability (TSD) Expert in bilateral disputes under the EU’s trade agreements with third countries.