Climate Spring to help indie with series inspired by environmental barrister Mónica Feria Tinta

Magpie Murders indie Eleventh Hour Films has joined with climate crisis company Climate Spring to develop a legal drama inspired by international law barrister Mónica Feria Tinta’s non-fiction book A Barrister For The Earth.

The British-Peruvian lawyer specialises in public International Law, and is renowned for her work in addressing climate change and environmental degradation.

She has served as counsel on the subject including before the Constitutional Court of Ecuador in Los Cedros case, the first ‘rights of nature’ case in the world. In 2022 her work secured a win in the Torres Strait Islanders case, a landmark moment in which the UN Human Rights Committee found a Sovereign state responsible for lack of action in addressing climate change.

Her book addresses 10 real legal cases in which she argues for the protection of the environment against the powers that be.

Screenwriter Victoria Asare-Archer is attached to develop the drama. She was lead writer and exec producer on the Harlan Coben adaptation Missing You for Netflix and wrote two episodes of Stay Close, also for Netflix.

Co-chief executives of Eleventh Hour Eve Gutierrez and Paula Cuddy said: “Monica is a fearless legal mind who has written a book that deftly demonstrates how the law is a powerful tool for the survival of our planet. More than anything she offers us what we’re all looking for right now – hope for the future.

“We’re delighted to have the brilliant screenwriter Victoria Asare-Archer spin an original contemporary series set in this exciting new world of environmental law, and to partner with Climate Spring who share our vision to deliver commercial scripted content in this space”.

Climate Spring has funded and consulted on more than 100 film and TV projects and Lucy Stone, founder and executive director, said: “Legal drama is an exciting storytelling lens to explore the climate crisis, with huge potential to reach audiences who come for the entertainment, while thoughtfully unpacking questions of justice, accountability and power.

“A series centred on the shift in understanding of nature’s rights is especially timely, opening up visions about what justice for people and other species could look like.”

Feria Tinta added: “I’m honoured that Eleventh Hour Films and Climate Spring see the potential for this story to reach a wider audience. The issues at the heart of this book – environmental justice, the beauty of the natural world, and the power of the law to protect it – deserve to be seen and heard.”

Eleventh Hour Films is also behind Rebus and Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue for BBC1.