About us
We’re Fighting Dirty. Literally.
Fighting Dirty’s mission is to create effective regulation that prevents harmful pollution at source. We use the legal system to challenge the action, or inaction, of policymakers, regulators and other public bodies, closing loopholes and embedding the ‘polluter pays’ principle.
We work with a core legal team to identify strategic cases with the potential to significantly reduce or eliminate harmful pollution primary from ‘forever chemicals’, microplastics, and other toxic substances that present a hazard to the environment and human health.
Our history
Our founder, Georgia Elliott-Smith, was the claimant in a 2021 High Court case challenging a government decision to omit major industrial polluters from the UK Emissions Trading Scheme.
As a result, waste incinerators will be brought within the UK ETS in 2026 – a move described as “the most significant regulatory intervention to the UK waste industry in a generation”. It also established a new precedent requiring government to consider the Paris Agreement in near-term policymaking to achieve long-term goals. The case’s ripple effect generated huge public awareness of the problems of excessive waste incineration, spawning documentaries and media exposés that are still changing government and public perceptions of incineration and its acceptability.
With this proof-of-concept of the power of legal challenges to create positive impact at scale, Fighting Dirty was established in November 2023 to continue this work.
In 2024 Fighting Dirty took the Environment Agency to court seeking to see the testing regime for stage sludge updated. The case shined a light on a regulation not updated since the 1980s and made clear the political failings that have allowed our farmlands to be flooded with a toxic cocktail of chemicals.
Who We Are
Fighting Dirty Ltd is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee. Our purpose, non-profit status, and asset lock are established in articles of association. Our three directors are:
George Monbiot
Award-winning journalist with a regular column in The Guardian, filmmaker, speaker, activist, and author of thirteen bestselling books including Ferel, Regenesis, and Out of the Wreckage.
Georgia Elliott-Smith
Environmental engineer with 30 years’ industrial experience. She is a Chartered Environmentalist, Member of the Institute of Environmental Management of Assessment, and former UNESCO Special Junior Envoy for Youth and the Environment.
Steve hynd
Steve is the Media Manager at The Green Party of England and Wales. He has worked around the world from Uganda to the Occupied Palestinian Territories and at every level of politics. Until recently he was the Policy Manager at award-winning not-for-profit ‘City to Sea’.
What do we do?
Fighting Dirty has been established to:
- Raise awareness of and fight environmental pollution that results in harm to life on Earth.
- Campaign for elimination, abatement, or mitigation of such pollution.
- Use legal instruments where necessary to challenge mechanisms that enable pollution including, but not limited to, local, national, or international policy and regulations for the purpose of reducing or eliminating such pollution.
We are supported by Leigh Day Solicitors and Matrix Chambers, the incredible team behind Wild Justice and landmark rulings such as the UK government’s unlawful Net Zero strategy.
We raise money through crowdfunding and philanthropic donations to cover our legal and campaigning costs. You can support us financially using the ‘Donate’ button at the top of the page, or for free by spreading the word, sharing our social media posts with your communities. We are incredibly grateful for all the support we receive. Thank you!
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