Our research

Stream leaders: Professor Shawkat Alam and Dr Catherine Gascoigne

The climate justice research domain engages with the intersections of climate justice, international trade, investment law, and sustainable development, with a particular focus on the Global South.

Led by Professor Shawkat Alam and Dr Catherine Gascoigne, the cluster draws on the expertise of a range of experts across a range of disciplines. Our work examines how international economic law can both enable and constrain climate action, sustainability, and equitable transitions, particularly in Southeast Asia and Pacific Island countries.

Our mission is to advance legal scholarship, practical solutions, and policy engagement towards a more just and sustainable global order.

Stream leaders: Professor Peter Davies and Dr Paul Govind

Environmental law in the 21st century must be guided by ecological integrity. This requires a shift away from the historic human centric values that has driven both implementation and evaluation of environmental law.

The ecological integrity domain focuses on how law can ensure that ecosystems are not only protected – but allowed to thrive.

This stream is currently led by Dr Paul Govind and Professor Peter Davies and is committed to a cross disciplinary approach that allows a critical analysis of environmental law in alignment with scientific expertise, concepts of relationality and nature positive.

Stream leader: Dr Francesca Dominello

While the modern industrial food system produces vast quantities of food, it does so at significant cost to the environment, human health, animal welfare, human rights and global security.

Problems in the modern food system are particularly challenging because they are not limited to a single discipline, but rather span the social and physical sciences, technology, economics, trade, law, energy, population health, nutrition, education and global security.

Researchers in this stream work in a range of areas, such as:

• agricultural extension and sustainable pest management
• international trade law, such as the WTO’s Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS)
• novel food technologies including plant-based meat, precision fermentation and cellular agriculture
• regulation of local knowledge and intellectual property rights in food and agriculture
• sustainable business
• Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement
• the co-location of agricultural activities with renewable energy
• urban agriculture, campus food gardens and food literacy
• veganism, plant-based diets, meat reduction and food systems transitions.

Stream leader: Associate Professor Amy Barrow

The Environmental Law Research Centre recognises that the impact of the triple planetary crisis (environmental pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss) disproportionately impacts vulnerable and marginalised groups of people. These include:

• Indigenous communities
• Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)
• people living in poverty
• refugees
• women.

We are committed to adopting an intersectional lens in centre governance, including integrating intersectional methods and analyses in the design of research projects, and promoting diversity, inclusion and belonging through centre events.

Stream leaders: Dr Abdullah-Al Arif and Dr Constantinos Yiallourides

Effective ocean governance relies on the interaction of law, science and technology to support the sustainable use and long-term management of marine resources, as environmental risks continue to evolve.

Researchers in this stream examine pressing legal and policy challenges in the law of the sea and ocean governance, including:

• equitable and sustainable use of marine resources, including high seas biodiversity and deep-sea mining
• legal implications of sea-level rise and ocean acidification
• offshore energy transitions and environmental safeguards
• the role of data-informed governance and new marine technologies in promoting marine environmental stewardship
• the role of international institutions and dispute settlement bodies in upholding ocean governance norms
• transboundary dimensions of ocean governance, including regional collaboration within the Asia–Pacific.

Stream leader: Dr David Birchall

Business enterprises are critical to dealing with the triple planetary crisis and in turn contributing to building an inclusive and sustainable society. It is therefore vital to harness the potential of companies to secure a shared future for both people and the planet.

As part of this stream, researchers  grapple with issues such as:

• effective regulation of corporate conduct through various state- and market-based tools
• incentivising responsible business behaviour
• integrating climate considerations in corporate laws
• negotiating sustainable trade and investment agreements
• strengthening corporate accountability for environmental pollution and climate change.

Since 2012, our partnership with the Government of Bangladesh has resulted in significant academic output and policy reform impacts. In this time, CEL has:

• mentored HDR candidates from Bangladesh
• developed specific postgraduate courses for Bangladesh government officials to provide training in the area of sustainable governance
• provided extensive training programs to over 500 Bangladesh Civil Servants to develop skills in sustainable development, treaty interpretation, human rights, trade, and environmental policy reform.

By equipping government officials with key skills, we have developed the advancement of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals within Bangladesh.

Our engagement with Indonesian partners significantly contributed to the development of linkages in Indonesia, which is a priority country in Macquarie University’s international engagement strategy.

CEL has significantly contributed to Indonesia’s capacity to implement environmental law and policy reform through collaboration with:

• the Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI)
• Ministry of Forestry and Environment of the Government of Indonesia
• Gadjah Mada University.

We have also strengthened partnerships through memorandums of understanding and networking between researchers to ensure future collaboration.