It was established by a group of students of Environmental Law and Environmental Justice in 2007 and is handed on to new students each year. The inspiration for running a conference on environmental justice comes from the radical event of the same name that has been running for over 25 years in Oregan, US and attracts thousands of delegates annually. PIEL is supported by NGO's Friends of the Earth
, Capacity Global, FIELD and the Environmental Law Foundation. The conference, however, is entirely student-run; students set the agenda and arrange all the practicalities. this means it has a very different "feel" to traditional legal events. The inaugural conference took as its focus corporate social responsibility; Tony Juniper gave and opening address and more than 80 students, lawyer, activists, community leaders and interested members of the public attended a full day of learning, discussion and movement building. In 2008 the theme was on energy and environmental responsibility - the final session of the day was a live video-link allowing a panel in London to debate these issues with one in the US. PIEL intends to be a forum which is accessible to all with an interest in Law and the environment. Because it is organised by students, it can achieve a balance between those who seek to benefit from and those who practice in he laws that can promote environmental justice. The movement benefits from the generous support of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS) who provide the venue.
