Award-Winning Director in Conversation at ECCA2025 ‘Duty of Care – The Climate Trials’

By Joris Gort

The Explore and Connect Series at ECCA2025 emphasizes new ways of engaging with climate adaptation. Fitting the new theme “human and legal dimensions of change”, award-winning Director Nic Balthazar held a Q&A around his documentary ‘Duty of Care – The Climate Trials’. Covering the story of Roger Cox’s ground-breaking case against the Royal Dutch Shell, the documentary provides a window into remaining challenges around adaptation.

This session shows that ECCA2025 is exploring new ways to connect to adaptation, and not only through film. There is a yoga room, Roberto Ghezzi’s The Greenland Project art exhibit, Salomé Bazin’s Destination Earth performance and the booths area, with CINEA, European Space Agency and many climate projects.

A new precedent for climate litigation

Reflecting on the documentary, Balthazar spoke of his pride in following the creation a new precedent for climate litigation. The success of Roger Cox’s team’s effort shows the ripple effect of climate cases worldwide. When asked how the piece exemplifies the potential crisis of democracy, Nic laughs and signals that the answer to this is seemingly evident in the nature of the question. Elaborating, however, he emphasizes that there is still space to address climate change. The window of opportunity is here, and the latitude in movement will only become narrower and narrower.

What questions does this open up for the role of the scientific community? The role and position of scientists is obviously diverse, Balthazar reflects. Those who conduct research do so in many different forms. But we should not forget, he implores, that this form of activism is shaped in close collaboration and uptake of specific data. Activists, whether in this legal shape or otherwise, do require funding, a crucial question to be asked of the scientific community.

Science, policy and social politics

Duty of Care, and Balthazar’s reflections, emphasize the precise legal dimensions of climate adaptation. The questions of social politics, and the role of science and policy, are closely aligned. The call to action by the movie and Balthazar’s responses stress the centrality of legal aspects. There are, however, not a lot of sessions on the legal aspects at ECCA 2025. A few human-oriented sessions are present. For the next iteration, we can expect this aspect to be strong represented, believing Duty of Care and Nic Balthazar’s pleas.

Don’t miss: Tomorrow (Wednesday, June 18th) 11:00-12:00 screening of part of For Rosa, a theatre play by Nic Balthazar, with a Q&A.

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Award-Winning Director in Conversation at ECCA2025 ‘Duty of Care – The Climate Trials’

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