About us

The IUCN Academy is a network of university-based law faculties and environmental law centres, each of which is a member institution. Each member institution may nominate a representative as a member of the Academy's Collegium (annual general meeting). The representative is eligible to elect the members of the Governing Board of the Academy

The IUCN Academy of Environmental Law is uniquely positioned in building environmental law education capacity and promoting the conceptual development of environmental law.

The Academy recognizes that environmental legal education is a vital contributor to the rule of law and to robust environmental governance essential for sustainable development and can be achieved through:

  • Development and delivery of programs aimed at building university teaching capacity in environmental law;
  • Generation of global research programs with major partners to feed into national and international environmental law and policy agendas; and
  • Convening major international conferences and exchange through the efforts of its Secretariat and its electronic communications.

As countries seek to achieve global environmental sustainability and to increase their capacity for the development and implementation of international and national environmental law, the IUCN Academy can draw on its international resources to help achieve the following:

  • Build individual talent and institutional capacity in environmental law and policy as a vital contributor to effective international environmental governance
  • Advance understanding of some of the most pressing environmental law and governance issues and propose strategies to address these issues from a legal perspective
  • Contribute to developing new legal mechanisms to meet urgent demands for sound global, regional and national governance

 

Founded in 1948, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental network. Located in Gland, Switzerland, it brings governments, international organizations, non-government organizations (NGOs), local communities and private enterprises together to engage in research and field projects that will develop solutions to the most pressing environmental challenges.

The IUCN understood early on the role that law needed to play in the response to environmental challenges. In the early 1960s, the IUCN created the Commission of Environmental Law, comprised of individual experts from around the world who volunteer in the various specialist groups established by the Commission.

In 2003, recognizing the importance of promoting teaching and research in environmental law at the university level, the IUCN endorsed the idea of an Academy of Environmental Law at the First Colloquium in Shanghai, China.  Since then, the Academy has held 12th Annual Colloquia in different parts of the globe, in collaboration with our institutional members.

1st  Academy Annual Colloquium - Shanghai, China (2003)
2nd Academy Annual Colloquium - Nairobi, Kenya (2004)
3rd Academy Annual Colloquium - Sydney, Australia (2005)
4th Academy Annual Colloquium - White Plains, New York, U.S.A. (2006)
5th Academy Annual Colloquium - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2007)
6th Academy Annual Colloquium - Mexico City, Mexico (2008)
7th Academy Annual Colloquium - Wuhan, China (2009)
8th Academy Annual Colloquium - Ghent, Belgium (2010)
9th Academy Annual Colloquium  - Eastern Cape, South Africa (2011)
10th Academy Annual Colloquium - Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. (2012)
11th Academy Annual Colloquium - Hamilton, New Zealand (2013)
12th Academy Annual Colloquium - Tarragona, Spain (2014)
13th Academy Annual Colloquium - Jakarta, Indonesia (2015)
14th Academy Annual Colloquium - Oslo, Norway (2016)
15th Academy Annual Colloquium - Cebu, Philippines (2017)
16th Academy Annual Colloquium - Glasgow, Scotland (2018)
17th Academy Annual Colloquium - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2019)
18th Academy Annual Colloquium – Virtual (2021)
19th Academy Annual Colloquium – Brisbane, Australia (2022)
20th Academy Annual Colloquium - Helsinki, Finland (2023)

 

The Secretariat of the IUCN Academy of Environmental was established at the University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada in 2006, acknowledging the institution’s dedication to environmental law.

In just over 12 years, the IUCN Academy has been able to attract institutional members from all over the world who are ready to collaborate at the global level. Its worldwide network is now comprised of more than 180 universities from 57 countries, with many from developing countries, enabling more than 800 environmental law professors and students to interact and to exchange knowledge, experience and resources.

The IUCN Academy operates with a license from the IUCN to use its name. The Academy is governed by a twelve-member Board. The members of the Board represent ten major regions of the world plus the Chair of the World Commission on Environmental Law and the Head of the IUCN Environmental Law Programme and together, provide direction for implementing the Academy’s vision and mission. The Board members provide a vital link to academic members, as well as government and community organizations in their respective regions, and provide essential input to membership development, the identification of new teaching and research initiatives and fostering fundraising efforts.

1000013248It is with a heavy heart that we inform the Academy community of the death of Dr. Emily Webster. Most recently, Emily was employed at Cambridge University as an Assistant Professor in Environmental Law. She was also an Official Fellow of Queens’ College and Director of Studies in the Department of Land Economy. Previously, Emily completed her Masters in Transnational Law and PhD in Law at King’s College London. Her PhD was focused on the response of law to climate change. Alongside her PhD studies, Emily was a highly valued member of the teaching teams for tort and environmental law. 

Emily was an active and committed member of the environmental law academy, serving as a member of the Hughes Hall Centre for Climate Engagement, a Research Fellow for the Earth System Governance research project, and as a member of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law. Emily’s exceptional research and teaching contributions will serve as a lasting testament to her unwavering dedication to furthering our understanding of the law and its role in fostering a sustainable planet. 

Within the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law, Emily was a regular attendee of Academy Colloquia, and will be remembered as a genuine and warm colleague who was always willing to exchange ideas and welcome new scholars. Colleagues able to spend time with her at the most recent Colloquium in Joensuu will recall her distinguished presentation on private law structures to address the planetary crisis, and shared dialogue over her planned future research. 

flower memorialIt is with tremendous sadness that we mourn the death of Associate Professor Anita Rønne who died on 13th December after a short illness.

Anita was employed at the Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen from 1985 and was a highly respected and well liked member of the IUCN Academy. Her expertise in Energy law, Climate Change Law and International Environmental Law meant that her work intersected with the work of many of our members and she was a good friend and colleague to many more.

Anita had many collaborators in Denmark and more widely and participated in numerous international research collaborations on both conferences and publications. She was a prolific researcher including classics such as “Energy Law in Europe – National, EU and International Regulation” of which she was a co-editor.

The IUCN Academy of Environmental Law announces with profound sadness the passing of Judge Christopher Gregory Weeramantry, Fellow of the IUCN Academy.

Judge Weeramantry passed away peacefully on January 5, 2017 at the age of 90 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Following is a special tribute to Judge Weeramantry written by his former assistant, Dr. Nilupul Gunawardena Somathilaka from the Hague, The Netherlands.

Christopher Gregory Weeramantry

(1926-2017)

Each and every nation treasures a selected band of very special sons and daughters; the eminently gifted ones in any given domain of human endeavour. Christopher Gregory Weeramantry will certainly go down in history as one of the greatest sons of Sri Lanka and as a Global Citizen of the highest order.

The surname Weeramantry is spoken of with respect throughout the country: Judge Christopher Weeramantry’s father Gregory and his elder brother Lucian earned their spurs in national history, but Christopher was to reach well beyond the national compound. He made his name, and that of his beloved Sri Lanka echo worldwide. None perhaps of the eminent legal and social minds, Sri Lanka gave birth to, ever exerted such an impact on global thought as he did. For there was a personal element to it as well. By virtue of his gentle, mild personality, his irresistible charm - topped by that enchanting smile – Christopher Weeramantry, with enviable ease, laced together strings of friends and admirers worldwide.

By: Professor Nick Robinson

wolfgangOn January 6, 2017, a cold winter’s day in Germany, under clear blue sky with bright sunshine, Wolfgang E. Burhenne’s life ended. He died with his daughter Raphaella, and her family at home, peacefully, in Germany. His family plans a memorial celebration of the life and work of Wolfgang Burhenne in the coming months. The funeral was private, for the family.

Wolfgang Burhenne’s passion for inventing laws to protect all manner of flora and fauna is legendary. More than any other single individual, he conceived and nourished laws for nature conservation and environmental stewardship across the Earth. He was as much at home in the Alps of Austria or Bavaria as he was in East Africa or the Arabian Penisula. He loved la chasse and nourished care for wild animals. At the same time, he devoted his life to building what the world now accepts as sustainable development, helping people and nature to live together in greater harmony. He was as much at home in the hallways of the United Nations in New York or Geneva as he was in parliamentary offices across Germany, as he was in the mountains and forests.