Next-generation environmental law research

This project seeks to identify and explore emerging and cutting-edge topics in national and international environmental law research, providing next-generation perspectives to IUCN and the broader legal community. The goal of this project is to develop a collaborative publication on next-generation environmental law perspectives to be promoted at the next IUCN World Conservation Congress.

Key activities

In addition to serving as a platform for early career researchers and professionals to discuss emerging topics in national and international environmental law research, this project focuses on:

a) Producing policy briefs on cutting-edge environmental law subjects;
b) Hosting annual webinars addressing cutting-edge environmental law issues and other topics of interest for early career professionals;
c) Organizing side events at the margins of IUCN and WCEL flagship events;
d) Providing input and next-generation environmental law perspectives to other WCEL Specialist Groups and IUCN Commissions upon request;
e) Coordinating and developing a collaborative publication on next-generation environmental law perspectives.
 

Latest activities

In 2023, the project focused on addressing the issue of intergenerational equity. It aimed to integrate this concept into the development and implementation of environmental law and governance across various sectors, such as the private sector and multilateral environmental agreements. The project particularly examined this issue in the context of climate change, which poses significant environmental challenges.

As part of these efforts, the group organized a webinar titled 'The Intergenerational Dimension of Human Rights and Public Interest Litigation' in collaboration with Youth and Environment Europe (YEE). The webinar recording is available here.

This year, the project plans to host a webinar on Environmental Law Research Methods and is inviting contributions for a collaborative publication. More information will be available soon.

For more information on how to engage in the project, please contact the project leads Ms. Elisa Fiorini Beckhauser (elisafbeckhauser@gmail.com) and Ms. Valeriana Augusta Broetto (valerianabroetto@gmail.com).
 

About the project-leads

Elisa Fiorini Beckhauser is a Ph.D. Student in Law and Sustainability at the University of Salento and researcher at the Euro-Mediterranean Centre on Climate Change (Italy). She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Law from the Federal University of Santa Catarina (Brazil), where she focused her studies on the rights of nature and Latin American constitutionalism. Her research interests include the ecocentric profile of Latin American climate litigation and the articulation between human rights law and the rights of nature from a decolonial perspective. She is also involved in different initiatives such as the Expert of the Harmony with Nature Network of the United Nations in the Young Professional category in Earth-Centred Law.

Valeriana Augusta Broetto is a lawyer specializing in Environmental Law from the Law for a Green Planet Institute (Brazil), with a Master's Degree in the same field from the University of São Paulo (Brazil). Since her undergraduate studies at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (Brazil), she has been engaged in research centered on climate policies, disaster risk reduction, national and international climate litigation, human rights, as well as the rights of nature and traditional peoples and communities in Latin America. Currently, she is a researcher at the South American Network for Environmental Migration (RESAMA), focusing on human mobility in the context of disasters.