This episode of The Green Interview features Mary Christina Wood, lawyer, academic, author and advocate of the use of the Public trust doctrine , an ancient and neglected legal principal that holds that legislatures and governments are trustees of the natural world with a duty to protect it to ensure the welfare and survival of present and future generations. Wood also originated the approach called atmospheric trust litigation, which holds governments worldwide accountable for reducing carbon pollution within their jurisdictions. The most spectacular such case is the Our Children’s Trust case in which 21 young people are suing the U.S. government for violating their constitutional rights by promoting the production of greenhouse gases through the use of fossil fuels. The children want governments to reduce their emissions by 6% a year. The Our Children’s Trust case has been called the most important lawsuit in the world and its roots are in the thought of Wood. Wood is also the author of the 2013 book Nature’s Trust: Environmental Law for a New Ecological Age, which she hopes will help fuel a tide of litigation worldwide.