Global Climate Law and Governance Essay Competition
Every year, CLGI hosts a competition for essays. These essays address any aspect of law and governance related to climate change or sustainable development, from local to global. This may include principles or provisions of the Paris Agreement and its Katowice Rulebook; recent trends in climate change dispute settlement and litigation; the challenges and opportunities of design, implementation and reform of legal and institutional frameworks for climate mitigation, adaptation/resilience or finance; climate aspects of trade and investment instruments; and human rights and climate justice.
Essays may also address any aspect of themes to be released for CLGI’s upcoming Climate Law and Governance Day which takes place alongside the UNFCCC COP. Information regarding finalized themes will be posted in due course.
ELIGIBILITY: The competition is open to undergraduate and graduate students. Students from least developed countries are especially encouraged to apply. Submissions may be co-authored.
PAST WINNERS
2023
The 2023 Climate Law & Governance Student Essay Competition featured submissions from students across the world, with warmest of congratulations to the laureates:
Aditi Jha (Middlesex University Dubai, UAE), Camille Martini (Laval University (Canada) & Aix-Marseille University (France), Tasmim Binte Sarwar (Bangladesh University of Professionals, Bangladesh) won Platinum for outstanding essays on “Food Security and Sustainable Development – Policy Evaluation”, “How Can Investor-State Dispute Settlement Better Integrate the Climate Change Regime?”, and “Towards the Establishment of an International Environmental Court: Revisiting the Need for International Judicial Governance”
Injy Johnstone (Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand & University of Oxford, UK), Luca Tenreira (European University Institute, France), and Mustafa Al Masri (Islamic University in Lebanon, Lebanon) won Gold for excellent essays on “Unilateral Declarations under the Paris Agreement: Prospects and Potential”, “The Application of the Paris Agreement to Companies Under Their Duty of Care”, and “The Legal Challenges of Energy Transition in Petroleum-Producing Developing Countries: Legislative Stability as a Model”
Fernando Díaz González & Raúl Martínez Cofré (University of Valparaiso, Chile), Manvendra Singh (University of Rajasthan, India), and Sandra P. Ángel Moreno (Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, Germany) won Silver for inspiring essays on “The Reconfiguration of Global Climate Change Governance: The Role of the UNFCCC and its Influence on the Latin American and Caribbean Region”, “Charting a Sustainable Path to Climate Justice – Ensuring Equity in Climate Change Litigation”, and “Echoing voices: Amazonia Indigenous Women Challenging Global Environmental Politics”
2022
The 2022 Climate Law & Governance Student Essay Competition featured submissions from students across the world, with warmest of congratulations to the laureates:
Christian Gutzwillier (University of California, Los Angeles, USA); Mikaella Bodeux (Utrecht University, Netherlands); Mayssa Mansour (Lebanese University, Lebanon); and Abdel Hamid Shehata Abdelrazek (South Valley University, Egypt) won Platinum for outstanding essays on Net Zero: A vague Concept on the Lookout for Guidance Policies, Regulatory Measures and Structuring Elements for Effective Decarbonization”; Copping Out? A Closer Look at the Phasedown of Unabated Coal Power Under the Glasgow Climate Pact; / Legal responses to the climate change crisis, in light of environmental legislative development; / The goal of carbon neutrality as a constitutional obligation on the State and corporations.
Rachel Wam (University of California, Berkeley, USA); Jorge Alejandro Carrillo Banuelos (Harvard Law School, USA); Motasem Jendaya (University Tunis El Manar, Tunisia); and Pakinam Alsonbaty & Mahtab Ali Elshenawy (Ain Shams University, Egypt) won Gold for excellent essays on “Crimes Against Nature are Crimes Against Humanity”: The Planet v Bolsonaro in Reframing Climate Change through Litigation; Emergencia climática y derechos humanos: definiendo el alcance de las obligaciones estatales desde la Comisión Interamericana; ” / Human rights and climate justice in light of international conventions; “ ; / Disputes and environmental judicial protection in Egypt: Proposed legal frameworks to address climate change
Kelly Gorman (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA) and Kirsten Barratt, Megan Mannion & Koaile Monaheng (University of Cape Town and Rhodes University, South Africa); Che Yeon Kim, Zion Lee, and Ji Sung Park (Sciences Po Paris); Joman Rabah Al-Khateeb (University of private Applied sciences, Amman, Jordan) and Areej Olama (Hebron University, Palestine) won Silver for their inspiring essays on Transforming the World’s Food Systems: The Need for a Holistic Approach to Food Waste; Building Beyond Montreal and Basel: How a New “Plastics Treaty” Can Save Our Oceans; Past and Future of South Korea’s Nuclear Energy Policies; “ / Climate change within the framework of international law and international humanitarian law;” / Human rights and climate justice
The winners of the 2019 Global Climate Law & Governance Student Essay Competition were announced at a special awards ceremony during Climate Law & Governance Day on 6 December 2019 at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. We are delighted to announce the list of winners below.
2018
2017
2016
2018 Climate Law and Governance Student Essay Competition Gold Medallists Sujay Natson, from the University of Oxford, and Jellie Molino, from the University of Turin, have kindly agreed to share their award winning submissions. Congratulations again to all who participated.
Mr Amiel Valdez was a Gold Medalist in CLGI’s 2017 legal essay competition. His paper examines the writ of kalikasan (nature), a legal remedy used to initiate climate suits against the Philippine government to demand accountability in cases where it fails to fulfill its adaptation targets.
The award-winning entries were announced in a special awards ceremony at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (CoP22) in Marrakesh, Morocco, and the best winning essays will be published internationally by the CISDL in 2017.
The French language gold awards were presented to Guy-Jules Kounga (Cameroon) and Zineb Hamdoune (Morocco). The English language gold awards were presented to Clarice Wambua (Kenya), Maoulainine Yahjabouha and Fatim Ezzahra Haytoumi (Morocco), and Conner Tidd (Canada).
The French language silver awards were presented to Ossama Azzouzi (Morocco), Marie-Bernard Dhedya Lonu (Democratic Republic of Congo), and Yepery Coulibaly and Asmaa Mahmoudi (Morocco). The English language silver awards were presented to Tatiana Abarca Alvarez (Costa Rica), Félix Leyman (Belgium), Joshua Smith (Canda), and Marianne Daval (France).
In recognition of the high quality submissions received this year, the judging panel also awarded bronze awards and honourable mentions to Hanh Nguyen (Vietnam), Nicolas Blanc (France), Júlia Oliveira Rosa (Brazil), and M. Hussein Ait Belaid and Najwa Azami Idrissi (Morocco).
CONTACT US
For interested students, you can contact us here or send us an email at climatelawgovernance@cisdl.org