Elisabeth Haub Award for Environmental Law and Diplomacy
The Elisabeth Haub Award for Environmental Law and Diplomacy is the world’s most distinguished award in the field of environmental law. The award was created in 1997 by the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, in cooperation with the Haub Family, to honor the legacy of Elisabeth Haub (1899 – 1977), a noted philanthropist and advocate for strong laws for the conservation of nature. The award is chosen annually by an esteemed jury of leaders in environmental law and was first established to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the United Nations Stockholm Conference and the 5th anniversary of the United Nations Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit.
2023 Elisabeth Haub Award for Environmental Law and Diplomacy
Honoring Ambassadors Marja Lehto and Marie Jacobsson for their pivotal roles advancing environmental law and policy to protect the environment in times of armed conflicts.
Monday, October 23, 2023 | 4:00 p.m. EST
1 Pace Plaza, New York, NY (hybrid)
Call For Nominations
THE 2023 CALL FOR NOMINATIONS IS NOW CLOSED
The Dean of the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University invites nominations for consideration by the Jury for the 2023 Elisabeth Haub Award for Environmental Law and Diplomacy through March 31, 2023. The Award, which is granted annually by the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, recognizes exceptional accomplishments in the field of environmental law and environmental diplomacy and is the most prestigious award of its kind.
A nomination for the Award may be submitted by any institution, international organization, diplomat, or any other person qualified in the field of environmental law and policy, including former laureates. Members of the Jury may also initiate nominations for the Award. Nominations may be submitted for an individual or for a governmental or intergovernmental organization, an Indigenous peoples’ organization, or a non-governmental organization. A Jury comprised of eminent leaders in the field of environmental law and diplomacy is responsible for selecting the recipient of the Award, which will be conferred in Fall 2023.
Nominations should be submitted online below or alternately, addressed to the Elisabeth Haub Award Jury, c/o Narinder Kakar, Secretary of the Jury via email to nkakar@law.pace.edu. Nominations must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. or 1700 hours Eastern Standard Time on Friday, March 31, 2023. Nominations should include any relevant information that can inform the Jury’s selection of the Laureate. In the case of individual candidates, nominations must be accompanied by a curriculum vitae and/or biographical sketch which includes information on all the activities and publications of the candidate in the area of environmental law and diplomacy.
Criteria for the Award
The Award may be granted for any of the following accomplishments:
- Contributions which have generally led to the progressive development of environmental law and policy;
- Particular practical success in specific instances as well as initiatives leading to a new idea or concept in the field of environmental law and policy of one or several countries.
The jury will convene to select the laureate and then a public announcement of the selection will follow.
Award Jury Members
The followed esteemed panel of individuals comprise the Jury for the 2023 Elisabeth Haub Award for Environmental Law and Diplomacy:
Dr. Grethel Aguilar, Deputy Director General – Regions and Outposted Offices, International Union for Conservation of Nature
Horace E. Anderson Jr., Dean, Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University
Jonas Ebbesson, Professor of Environmental Law and Director of the Stockholm Environmental Law and Policy Centre, Stockholm University
Liliane A. Haub, Environmental Advocate and Pace University Board of Trustees Member
Narinder Kakar, Distinguished Senior Fellow, Global Center for Environmental Legal Studies, Elisabeth Haub School of Law, Professor Emeritus, University for Peace and Secretary of the Jury
Patricia Kameri-Mbote, Director of the Law Division, United Nations Environment Programme
Rose Lesley Kautoke, Senior Crown Counsel, Head of the Legal Advice and International Law Division, Attorney General’s Office of the Government of the Kingdom of Tonga
Katrina Fischer Kuh, Haub Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law, Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University
Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme
Smita Narula, Haub Distinguished Professor of International Law, Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University
Tianbao Qin, Luojia Distinguished Professor of Law, Wuhan University
Nicholas A. Robinson, Executive Governor, International Council of Environmental Law, University Professor on the Environment and Gilbert and Sarah Kerlin Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law Emeritus, Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University
Dr. Rômulo Sampaio, Partner, Mattos Filho, Veiga Filho, Marrey Jr & Quiroga Lawyers, Professor, Getulio Vargas Foundation School of Law
Past Laureates
2022 |
Professor Paulo de Bessa Antunes (Brazilian) |
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2021 |
Vanessa Nakate (Uganda) Professor Wang Xi (China) |
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2020 | In memoriam to Environmental Defenders (Globally) In recognition of those who lost their lives defending their land and the environment from destructive industries |
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2018 |
Stephen C. McCaffrey (USA) As Special Rapporteur of the UN Convention on International Water Courses and Sustained Leadership Building International Environmental Law |
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2017 | Reinhard Josef Krapp (Germany) For exceptional and sustained commitment to advancing multilateral policy to further sustainable development and environmental values globally |
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2016 | Christiana Figueres (Costa Rica) In Recognition of her Remarkable Diplomatic Achievements as the Architect of the Paris Climate Accords |
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2015 |
Antonio Herman Benjamin (Brazil) Macharia Kamau (Kenya) |
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2014 | Richard Macrory (United Kingdom) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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2013 | Marc Pallemaerts (Belgium) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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2012 | Lubna Bint Khalid Al Qasimi For Sustained and Innovative Leadership Establishing the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) |
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2012 | Koh Kheng Lian (Singapore) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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2011 | Alan Boyle (Scotland) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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2010 | Biliana Cicin-Sain For her outstanding contributions to the international efforts to preserve the world’s oceans and several international agreements related to them |
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2009 | Julio Barboza For his outstanding service to international environmental governance Donald Kaniaru (Kenya) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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2008 | Laurence Boisson de Chazournes (Switzerland) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law Hilario G. Davide, Jr. (Philippines) For his exceptional leadership in building consensus for the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the United Nations General Assembly |
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2007 | Françoise Burhenne-Guilmin (Belgium) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law David Freestone (United Kingdom) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law Mohamed A. Sahnoun (Algeria) For His Role in the Negotiation of Agreements Crucial to Sustainable Development |
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2006 | Dinah Shelton (USA) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law Thomas A. Mensah (Ghana) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law Klaus Töpfer (Germany) For excellence in leading UNEP and advancing global environmental stewardship |
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2005 | James MacNeill (Canada) For facilitating “Our Common Future” leading the United Nations to convene the 1992 Earth Summit Phillippe Sands (United Kingdom) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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2004 | Mohamed El-Ashry (Egypt) In recognition of his extraordinary service to the Global Environment Fund Ramón Ojeda Mestre (Mexico) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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2003 | Peter H. Sand (Germany) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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2002 | Askar Akaev (Kyrgyzstan) For initiating and inspiring the United Nations Year of the Mountains Mohamed Ali Mekouar (Morocco) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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2001 | Bagher Asadi (Iran) For distinguished accomplishments in securing developing Nations’ support for UNEP, the Kyoto Protocol and establishment of the United Nations Forest Forum Ludwig Krämer (Germany) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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2000 | Veit Koester (Denmark) For extraordinary contributions to negotiation of the Convention on Biological Diversity and other multilateral environmental agreements Akio Morishima (Japan) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law Tuiloma Neroni Slade (Samoa) For inspired leadership of the United Nations Initiative for Small Island Developing States |
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1999 | Johan Gerrit Lammers (Netherlands) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law Bo John Kjellen (Sweden) For distinguished service leading negotiations of the Convention on Desertification< Tan Sri Razali Ismail (Malaysia) For his initiatives in the Special Sessions of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development with positive participation by Civil Society |
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1998 | Parvez Hassan (Pakistan) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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1997 | Günther Handl (Austria) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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1996 | Tommy Thong-Bee Koh (Singapore) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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1995 | Patrick Széll (United Kingdom) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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1994 | Edith Brown-Weiss (USA) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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1993 | Winfried Lang (Austria) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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1992 | Nicholas A. Robinson (USA) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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1991 | Hubert Bocken (Belgium) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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1990 | Andronico Oduogo Adede (Kenya) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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1989 | Zdenek Madar (Czechoslovakia) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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1988 | Cyrille de Klemm (France) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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1987 | Reinhard Ganten (Germany) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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1986 | Michael Bothe (Germany) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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1985 | Paulo Affonso Leme Machado (Brazil) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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1984 | Charles Okidi (Kenya) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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1983 | Heribert Rausch (Switzerland) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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1982 | Louis-Paul Suetens (Belgium) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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1981 | Mateo J. Magarinos de Mello (Uruguay) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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1980 | Russell Train (USA) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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1979 | Alexandre-Charles Kiss (Hungary) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law Oleg Stepanovitch Kolbasov (USSR) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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1978 | Guillermo Cano (Argentina) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law Eckhard Rehbinder (Germany) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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1977 | Joseph L. Sax (USA) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law Henri Smets (Belgium) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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1976 | Jacques Hoeffler (Belgium) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law Michel Prieur (France) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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1975 | Wolfgang Burhenne (Germany) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law Waclaw Brzezinski (Poland) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law Michel Despax (France) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
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1974 | Michel Carpentier (France) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law Jean-Paul Harroy (Belgium) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law Jean Lamarque (France) For outstanding and sustained contributions to Environmental Law |
Press Releases
Elisabeth Haub Award for Environmental Law and Diplomacy Press Releases:
Brazilian Environmentalist Professor Paulo de Bessa Antunes Named Recipient of the 2022 Elisabeth Haub Award for Environmental Law and Diplomacy
Prestigious 2020-2021 Elisabeth Haub Award for Environmental Law and Diplomacy Presented to Two Global Advocates During an Inspiring Ceremony and Panel Discussion
Environmental Defenders to Receive 2019 Elisabeth Haub Award for Environmental Law and Diplomacy
2020 Elisabeth Haub Award in Memoriam to Environmental Defenders
2020 Elisabeth Haub Award for Environmental Law & Diplomacy
The 2020 Elisabeth Haub Award for Environmental Law & Diplomacy was conferred in memoriam to Environmental Defenders who lost their lives defending their land and the environment from destructive industries. The number of attacks against environmental defenders continues to rise, with 212 killings documented by Global Witness in 2019. The ceremony was preceded by a panel discussion featuring leading environmental advocates and activists from around the globe. Watch a video of the event below.
Panelists:
Robert Chan, Executive Director, Palawan NGO Network, Inc. (PNNI), Philippines
Atty. Robert ‘Bobby’ Chan is a product of the Ateneo de Manila University. He finished his law degree, Juris Doctor, in 1994 in the Ateneo School of Law and immediately pursued an internship program with the Ateneo Human Rights Center, for which he was assigned to environmental law practice in Palawan. He initially worked as a Legal Staff of the Environmental Legal Assistance Center and eventually was asked to head the Palawan NGO Network Incorporated as its Executive Director in 2010 up to the present. He is sometimes called the chainsaw man of Palawan owing to his more than 700 confiscated illegal logging chainsaws impounded in his office, along with several dynamite fishing boats and mining equipment. But Bobby wants to be known as an advocate of Deeds, and not Words, which most environmentalists have a tendency to interchange.
For more information, see https://www.facebook.com/palawanngonetworkinc
Carlos Alfonso Negret, Former Ombudsman, Republic of Colombia
Carlos Alfonso Negret was the Ombudsman of Colombia during the constitutional period of September 1st of 2016 to August 31st of 2020. He carried out his work with the commitment to ensure the less favored, make visible the invisible, privilege governance in the territories and promote the consolidation of a human rights culture to live in peace.
During his mandate as Ombudsman, he was elected as Chairperson of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), which reunites more than 113 National Human Rights Institutions at the global level.
Prior to his election as Ombudsman, he served in various positions in the public and private sectors, such as INCORA (Colombian Institute for Land Reform), an entity where the first stages to learn about the problems that afflict the rural sector in the nation and the complex difficulties to face it were identified. Likewise, he represented his country in the United States of America, as Consul, getting to know first-hand, the problematics lived by fellow citizens abroad, especially in prison matters.
For more information, see https://www.lacolombiaolvidada.com
Krystal Two Bulls, Northern Cheyenne/Oglala Lakota; Director, LANDBACK Campaign; NDN Collective
Krystal Two Bulls has extensive experience as an organizer and on the frontlines with campaign development and management on local, national and transnational campaigns for social, racial and environmental justice. Krystal’s identity as a Native American veteran is central to her organizing and storytelling. At the heart of Krystal’s work are the connections between collective wellness, environmental justice, Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, and anti-militarism. In healing from her experience as a soldier, Krystal has dedicated herself to embodying what she views as the essential quality of a warrior: a commitment to the well-being of not only her People and their relationship to the land, but that of all Peoples.
For more information, see https://ndncollective.org and https://landback.org
Julie Anne Miranda-Brobeck, Head of US Communications & Global Partnerships, Global Witness
Julie Anne Miranda-Brobeck is the Head of US Communications and Global Partnerships at international human rights and environmental watchdog Global Witness, where she leads on US media and strategic communications, cultivating partnerships, and overseeing a host of engaging events to bring visibility and impact to Global Witness campaigns and investigations. Prior to her work with Global Witness, she spent 6 years at the Transparency International Secretariat in Berlin, working across communications, public relations and campaign outreach to shine a light on corruption and root out abuse of power around the world. She has also led multiple art & culture publications as Editor-in-Chief. She is originally from Washington, D.C. and holds a BA in Foreign Affairs and Creative Writing (University of Virginia) and an MA in Global Studies (Joint Degree: University of Freiburg – Germany & Faculty of Latin American Social Sciences – Buenos Aires).
For more information, see https://www.globalwitness.org/en
For Global Witness’ July 2020 Report, see https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/environmental-activists/defending-tomorrow.
Press Release: Haub Law Confers 2019-2020 Elisabeth Haub Award for Environmental Law and Diplomacy on Environmental Defenders