Roundtable: The Practice of Climate Change Litigation

Professor Shawkat Alam

Professor of Law and Law School Director of International Engagement, Macquarie University

Dr Shawkat Alam is Professor of International and Environmental Law and Director of International Engagement at Macquarie Law School, Macquarie University, Australia. Dr Alam's primary teaching and research expertise lies in the areas of international law, environmental law, trade and sustainable development. His research focuses on the opportunities and challenges faced by developing economies to achieve sustainable development.

Prof. Alam is the author of the monograph, Sustainable Development and Free Trade (Routledge, 2008), and has co-edited several books including International Natural Resources Law, Investment and Sustainability (Routledge, 2018), and International Environmental Law and the Global South (Cambridge, 2015). Dr Alam has built strong international research collaborations that have led to significant community outreach projects, partnerships and research consultancies.

Prof. Alam has an outstanding record in Higher Degree Research supervision and has received a number of awards including Vice-Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Higher Degree Research Supervision, Macquarie University.

Mr David Estrin

Ianni Fellow, Faculty of Law & Co-Director Climate Litigation & Policy Clinical Project, University of Windsor; Co-Chair, International Bar Association Climate Change Justice and Human Rights Task Force; Certified Environmental Law Specialist

David Estrin is recognised as Canada’s senior environmental law specialist and for his contributions to the development of procedural reforms that could lower hurdles for domestic courts to more effectively require governments and enterprises to act on climate change.

His four-decade career has uniquely combined litigation, teaching, research and writing as well as being an expert witness in international environmental arbitration and climate change-human rights tribunal proceedings.

He is the founding editor of the Canadian Environmental Law Reports, and formerly headed the environmental law group at one of Canada’s largest law firms. He co-chaired the International Bar Association President’s Task Force On Climate Change Justice and Human Rights that produced the ground-breaking 2014 book, Achieving Justice and Human Rights in an Era of Climate Disruption; and more recently co-chaired the IBA expert working group that advised on the drafting of the 2020 IBA Model Statute for Proceedings Challenging Government Failure to Act on Climate Change, and co-edited the MS report.

Professor Lavanya Rajamani

Professor of International Environmental Law, Faculty of Law, University of Oxford; Yamani Fellow in Public International Law at St Peter's College, Oxford

Lavanya Rajamani is a Professor of International Environmental Law at the Faculty of Lawl, University of Oxford, and Yamani Fellow in Public International Law at St Peter's College, Oxford.

Lavanya specializes in the field of international environmental and climate change law. She has authored and led several books and articles in this field, including the second edition of the Oxford Handbook of International Environmental Law (OUP, 2021), Innovation and Experimentation in the International Climate Change Regime (Hague Academy/ Receuil des Cours, 2020), and the ASIL prize-winning co-authored book, International Climate Change Law (OUP, 2017).

She serves as Coordinating Lead Author for the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report, is a member of the Climate Crisis Advisory Group, and has also served as a consultant and legal advisor, among others, to the UNFCCC Secretariat and Alliance of Small Island States. She was part of the UNFCCC core drafting and advisory team for the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Associate Professor Thom Wetzer

Associate Professor of Law and Finance, University of Oxford; Director, Oxford Sustainable Law Programme; Co-Lead, Oxford Net Zero Initiative

Thom Wetzer is Associate Professor of Law and Finance at the University of Oxford and the Founding Director of the Oxford Sustainable Law Programme. At Oxford, Thom is also a Co-Lead of the Oxford Net Zero Initiative and Lead Researcher at the Oxford Martin Initiative for a Net Zero Recovery

Thom’s research examines how law and finance can generate value and advance the public good, focusing on how we can build more resilient financial systems, improve the governance of corporations, and tackle the climate crisis. His work combines traditional legal scholarship with financial, scientific, and empirical analysis, and has been published in Nature, Science, Nature Climate Change, The Journal of Corporation Law, and the Journal of Corporate Law Studies. Thom actively collaborates with and advises governments, central banks, corporations, NGOs, and international institutions.

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Macquarie University NSW 2109

City campus

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Sydney NSW 2000

Event Contact

arts.law-events@mq.edu.au

Acknowledgement of Country

Macquarie University is located on the land of the Wallumattagal clan of the Dharug people. We pay respects to the Elders and knowledge holders who have, and continue to share their wisdom and knowledges, nurturing and sustaining our environments, cultures and education.