Lloyd K. Garrison Lecture on Environmental Law

 Annual Lloyd K. Garrison Lecture on Environmental Law to be presented this year by Professor Erika George, Samuel D. Thurman Professor of Law, S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah

Professor Erika George will speak on Incorporating Human Rights: Corporate Responsibility, Equity, and Just Environments. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals cannot be achieved without private sector participation. The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights call on business enterprises to respect human rights by addressing adverse environmental and human rights impacts related to business operations. When natural resources are managed responsibly the resulting economic development can help to eradicate poverty and promote prosperity; but, when resources are managed poorly—without incorporating respect for human rights—industry sector practices can generate or exacerbate environmental degradation, corruption, and conflict. In particular, certain practices of the agricultural and extractives industry sectors and our current patterns of consumption are implicated in adverse social impacts and environmental injustices associated with the changing climate. Professor George's lecture will provide examples of how human rights and environmental challenges are connected and will present ways investors and advocates could leverage corporate and securities laws to promote climate action and accountability for human rights abuses.

Register here.

Professor Erika George
Samuel D. Thurman Professor of Law @S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah
Erika George is the Director of the Tanner Humanities Center and the Samuel D. Thurman Professor of Law at the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah. George earned a bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of Chicago and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, where she served as articles editor of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. She also holds a master’s degree in international relations from the University of Chicago. Prior to joining the S.J. Quinney College of Law, George served as a law clerk for Judge William T. Hart on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, as a litigation associate for the law firms of Jenner & Block in Chicago and Coudert Brothers LLP in New York City, and as a fellow and later consultant to Human Rights Watch. Her research focuses on human rights and international law.