A Guest Lecture on International Environmental Law

A guest lecture entitled “Incorporation of International Environmental Law Principles into Sri Lankan Legal Framework” by Dr. Sumudu Atapattu, Director of the Centre for Global Legal Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA was held on 04.01.2024 at the auditorium of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University. Dr. Sumudu Atapattu is an internationally reputed jurist in the field of International Environmental Law, especially inareas related to climate change and human rights. 

She is affiliated with UW-Madison’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, Global Health Institute, Centre for South Asia, and 4W Initiative. She was also a Visiting Professor at Doshisha University Law School, Japan (2014);  Justus Liebig University, Germany (2016-2022); and Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain (2019). As a prolific writer, her works include “UN Human Rights Institutions and the Environment: Synergies, Challenges, Trajectories” (Routledge, forthcoming, 2023); Handbook of Environmental Justice and Sustainable Development (2021, Cambridge); Human Rights and the Environment: Key Issues (Routledge, 2019); “Human Rights Approaches to Climate Change: Challenges and Opportunities” (2015, Routledge); “International Environmental Law and the Global South” (2015, Cambridge); and “Emerging Principles of International Environmental Law” (2006, Transnational Publishers, New York). 

During her lecture, Dr. Atapattu discussed the importance of North-South dialogue in climate change issues and also pointed out the state’s responsibilities in ensuring the Paris Accords and the Rio Declaration. The lecture was followed by a Q&A session with the students and the academic staff at the Faculty of Law. 

The event was organized by the (KDU EARTH) and the Department of International Law at the Faculty of Law to enhance the legal knowledge of the students studying Environmental Law at the Faculty of Law.