WCEL Steering Committee Members

David M. Forman is a Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Environmental Law Program, in addition to serving as Affiliated Faculty for both the Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law and the Pacific Asian Legal Studies program. He is the Law School's first locally-raised faculty member of Filipino descent to secure tenure, and co-founder of the Tony Oposa Intergenerational Moot Court (an innovative, collaborative moot court designed to highlight cutting edge international issues and their impact on future generations). He has been a member of the World Commission on Environmental Law since November 2014. His publications include the co-edited, inaugural volume of the Normandy Chair for Peace collection entitled Legal Actions for Future Generations (Peter Lang 2020).

Agnès Michelot is a Senior Lecturer in Public Law at the Faculty of Law, Political Sciences and Management of the La Rochelle University (France). She specialises in international environmental law. She is vice president and honorary president of the French society for environmental law. 

Dr. Nilufer Oral is a Professor of Law and Senior Fellow at the National University of Singapore. she is a member of the United Nations International Law Commission and co-chair of the Study Group on Sea-level rise in relation to international law.

Ms. Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, is the Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Ms. Mrema has worked with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) for over two decades and was the Director of the Law Division at UNEP which is also responsible for international environmental governance as well as multilateral environmental agreements. Prior to joining the Law Division in June 2014, she was Deputy Director of the Ecosystems Division, in charge of coordination, operations and programme delivery from 2012 and for one year also served as Acting Director to the same Division. In 2018, she was also the Acting Director of the Corporate Services Division. Prior to these duties, she also served as Executive Secretary of the UNEP/Secretariat of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) from 2009-2012. Ms. Mrema’s work at UNEP has focused on development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws including multilateral environmental agreements at national, regional and international levels, among others. Her various roles over the years, include being coordinator of capacity-building and compliance and enforcement projects related to environmental law and the multilateral environmental conventions.

Claudia S. de Windt. International lawyer from the Dominican Republic. Chief Executive and founder of The Inter-American Institute on Justice and Sustainability (IIJS). International environmental law Professor in globally recognized faculties of law, judicial and prosecutorial academies and Adjunct Associate Professor at American University, Washington College of Law (Human Rights and the Environment). Affiliated to the Center of Constitutional Studies of the Supreme Court of Mexico. Member of the Steering Committee of the World Commission on Environmental Law of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the list of experts in environmental law and the resolution of disputes of the Association Agreement between the European Union and Central America. Provides expertise to high level international policy forums and to different entities and committees in the UN System. Adviser to the UNODC Global Program on Crimes that Affect the Environment and Climate. In 2021 was invited to join the Scotia Group a global network of prominent internationalists and leaders in law, politics, academia and business convened for the UNFCCC-COP 26 to to drive impactful climate action through the rule of law. Designated in 2020 Visiting Scholar at The Environmental Law Institute (ELI). From 2015-2017, co-Chaired the Green Growth and the Law Working Group of The Green Growth Knowledge Partnership (GGKP). Served for almost two-decades at the Organization of American States (OAS) advising numerous political and negotiation processes in the multilateral and hemispheric sphere and making significant contributions to environmental legislation, enforcement, compliance and jurisprudence in Latin America and the Caribbean. A Graduate of Universidad Iberoamericana, UNIBE (Doctor in Law). Master's Degree (LLM) in International Legal Studies from the American University Law School. Certificate in Negotiations from the Harvard University School of Law.

Christina specializes in international development finance, law and policy reform, dispute resolution and ESG standards and drives thought leadership on sustainable development issues. She is currently Principal Counsel of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and manages the Office of General Counsel's Law and Policy Reform Program which designs and implements legal and judicial reform technical assistance projects across the Asia and the Pacific region. Christina oversees a diverse portfolio in the areas of environmental protection and climate change, gender equality, private sector development, public-private partnerships and digital economy. In particular, Christina leads ADB’s judicial capacity building program on commercial and environmental and climate change disputes (www.ajne.org) and Developing Environmental Law Champions Program (www.teachenvirolaw.asia) which aims to improve environmental legal education in Asia and the Pacific. She also co-leads the Legal Readiness for Climate Finance and Climate Investments technical assistance which has been modernizing legal frameworks to attract greater international climate finance and climate investments into ADB’s developing member countries (https://cclr.lexxion.eu/article/CCLR/2018/1/4) and most recently, assisted with the enactment of the Fiji Climate Change Act 2021. Additionally, Christina specializes in international arbitration reform and has been assisting various countries accede to the New York Convention and/or put in place implementing arbitration law, including Fiji, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Timor-Leste and Uzbekistan. She also speaks on dispute resolution mechanisms under international trade and investment agreements. She also serves as ADB’s Accountability Mechanism Policy Counsel advising the Board of Directors, the Office of the Compliance Review Panel and the Office of the Special Project Facilitator. In her previous role as a project counsel at ADB, Christina worked on complex multi-sector projects in Central Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia regions. She is currently a Steering Committee Member of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. Christina is a US-qualified lawyer, admitted in the States of New York and New Jersey.

Patricia Kameri-Mbote is the Director of the Law Division, UNEP. She leads the Division charged with carrying out the functions of UNEP in the field of environmental law, governance, and related policy issues. She was also engaged in the Montevideo Environmental Law Programme since 2007 and is a member of the Governing Board of the Council on Environmental Law (ICEL). Previously, Patricia was Founding Research Director of the International Environmental Law Research Centre (IELRC) and was Programme Director for Africa for over 20 years.

Chair Emeritus. 
Sheila Abed is a Paraguayan lawyer. She served as Counselor of the Yacyreta Binational Hydropower Dam from 2016 to 2018 and as the Minister of Justice and Labor of the Republic of Paraguay from 2013 to 2016.

Seasoned leader in the fields of environment, nature and sustainable development, with a unique range of experience gained across multiple continents, disciplines and organisations, and the recipient of a number of national and international honours and awards. 

Served in senior positions in the private sector, with government, international organisations, the UN, and not-for-profit organizations. Led the development and implementation of multiple organisational strategies, and spearheaded impactful legal, governance and policy reforms at local, national and international level.

Currently CEO, Elephant Protection Initiative Foundation; Chair, UK Government Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund;  Chair, Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime; Director, Global Wildlife Fund; Executive President, International Council of Environmental Law (ICEL); Board Member, Accounting for Nature; Advisory Committee Member, Campaign for Nature; Member, IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas and World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL), and providing advisory services to a wide-range of clients through Scanlon Advisory LLC.