Kathryn Gwiazdon, J.D., Esq. is Executive Director, Center for Environmental Ethics and Law, a member of the Steering Committee of the Ecological Law and Governance Association, and Deputy Chair, Ethics Specialist Group, IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law.
She was with the Center for Humans and Nature from 2005–12, and served as the Director of the North American Global Responsibilities program from 2009–12. During her time with CHN, and since 2005, she has worked closely with Dr. J. Ronald Engel on the Biosphere Ethics Initiative (BEI). The BEI is an international soft law program that seeks to bear witness to, highlight, and share principles of environmental ethics to guide individual, organizational, and governmental/policy decision-making at the local, regional, state, and international level. The BEI has been adopted as a foundational policy to IUCN, the world’s oldest and largest international environmental organization.
In 2016 she founded the Center for Environmental Ethics and Law to serve as the permanent home, and advance the work of, the Biosphere Ethics Initiative. To this end, she organizes and leads on-the-ground meetings of local and global experts (called Relatos); provides presentations and presence at international gatherings, including Conferences of the Parties for international treaties; and develops scholarly research on comparative law, ethics, corruption, and human and environmental rights. The work focuses on real-world practice, and sharing those stories of success and failure on the global scale, to build solidarity to advance the conservation and flourishing of life.
Kathryn has taught courses at the J.D. and LLM-level, has worked in more than 15 countries, and serves on several Boards and Steering Committees that advance new frameworks in law, ecological law, climate change justice, ecological integrity, and public health. Her most recent research and publications explore environmental ethics and democracy, state non-action, social justice, and human, national, and global security.
Contributions to Humans & Nature:
Articles in Minding Nature:
- Looking Out the Window: The Political, Intellectual, and Moral Necessities of Modern Environmentalism
- We Cannot Fail: The Promise and Principles of Ecological Law and Governance
- The Biosphere Ethics Initiative: Building Global Solidarity for the Future of Life
- Principles of Water Ethics
- Keeping Nature Alive at the World Conservation Congress
NOTEWORTHY LINKS:
- The Center for Environmental Ethics and Law
Read more about advancing environmental ethics in law and life.
- The Center for Environmental Ethics and Law
