Environmental activism - a core element within the strategic agenda of corporations

Reyes Calderón

Reyes Calderón is professor of Corporate Governance. PhD in Economics and in Philosophy, her research interests focus on the study of best practices in Corporate Governance and on the digital transformation of corporations, publishing books and articles in international journals around those topics. She has served as an independent member of some Board of Directors, being Chair of some CSR and Sustainability committees in public corporations. She is a reputed novelist.

Nkiruka Chidia Maduekwe

Dr Nkiruka Chidia Maduekwe is an energy and environmental policy specialist, with over ten years’ experience in research and training relating to energy, environment, and climate change. Since childhood, Nkiruka has been passionate about two key areas, namely achieving a sustainable environment and sharing knowledge on the process. Nkiruka's mantra is 'knowledge can be made simple and shared'. Nkiruka has several publications, including speaking at international and national conferences, also granting interviews on National television, aimed at educating the public on issues ranging from environmental protection and sanitation; oil, gas, and energy; essential climate change adaptative and mitigation strategies necessary to stem its impact in Nigeria.

Nkiruka is a Solicitor and Barrister of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. She has an LL.B (Hons.) from the University of Abuja, Nigeria; LLM in Environmental Law and Policy and MSc in International Oil and Gas Management. Both LLM and MSc were undertaken at the specialist Centre for Energy, Petroleum, Mineral Law and Policy (CEPMLP), University of Dundee, United Kingdom, where courses dealing with climate change, water resources, and natural resource management formed part of her training. She has a PgDip in Research Training and PhD in Law, both from the University of Hull, United Kingdom. Her doctorate thesis focused on using human rights approach to environmental protection (HRAEP) as a mechanism to achieve environmental sustainability in Nigeria’s extractive industry.

Nkiruka is currently a Research Fellow with the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS). She serves as a Part-time Lecturer 1 with the Faculty of Law, Nile University of Nigeria. She is also a Facilitator and Project Supervisor with the National Open University of Nigeria. Nkiruka served as a member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Niger Delta Task Force Committee whose terms of reference included advising the NBA on the challenges in the Niger Delta to enhance environmental protection and quality of life in the region. She also served as the International Bar Association (IBA) Environment, Health, and Safety law (EHS) Committee African Regional representative. In this capacity, Nkiruka proposed and coordinated a treatise on African environmental laws and polices based on the African Union’s Agenda 2063; and the IBA African Regional Conference on the Environment which held in November 2018. Both projects are the very first of their kind! The book was published in July 2019 by LexisNexis. Nkiruka is presently the IBA EHS Committee Communications officer.

Other professional membership includes the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), and Energy Institute (EI).

Justice Brian Preston

Justice Preston is the Chief Judge of the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales. Prior to being appointed in November 2005, he was a senior counsel practising primarily in New South Wales in environmental, planning, administrative and property law. He has lectured in post-graduate environmental law for nearly 30 years. He is the author of Australia’s first book on environmental litigation and 134 articles, book chapters and reviews on environmental law, administrative and criminal law. He holds numerous editorial positions in environmental law publications and has been involved in a number of international environmental consultancies and capacity-building programs, including for judiciaries throughout Asia.

Justice Preston is an Official Member of the Judicial Commission of NSW, Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law, Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW and Honorary Fellow of the Environment Institute of the Australia and New Zealand. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters by Macquarie University in 2018. He is a member of various international environmental law committees and advisory boards, including the interim governing council of the Global Judicial Institute on the Environment. He is currently an Adjunct Professor at the University of Sydney, Western Sydney University and Southern Cross University.

In 2019 Justice Preston was a Visiting Fellow at Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford, and in 2020 was the Robert S Campbell Jr Visiting Fellow at Magdalen College, University of Oxford.

Javier de Cendra

Javier de Cendra is Dean of the Faculty of Law and Business of Universidad Francisco de Vitoria and Senior Vice Chair of the EHS Committee at the IBA. He has been for seven years Dean of IE University Law School and member of its Executive Committee. He has been President of the Law Schools Global League, member of the governing board of the International Association of Law Schools, Honorary Senior Research fellow at University College London Faculty of Law, Honorary Senior Lecturer at UCL Energy Institute. He is fellow of the Sustainability College Brugge, and member of the international advisory board of several universities, research centres and think tanks.

Beatriz Spiess

Beatriz Spiess is Partner at Guyer & Regules were she develops her practice in the Real Estate Department and the Environmental Department. She is a Professor on rural real estate and regulatory matters at Universidad de Montevideo and has dictated courses on renewable energy projects at Universidad Catolica del Uruguay. She holds an LLM in Banking & Financial Law from Boston University.

Beatriz is further Programme Officer at the Environmental, Health & Safety Committee of the IBA andfounding member of the Consejo Empresarial de Sistema B in Uruguay.

Avi Garbow

Avi is a nationally-recognized environmental leader, lawyer, and advocate, with decades of experience tackling the most critical threats to our air, water, and lands. Honored by the National Law Journal as an Energy and Environmental Trailblazer, Avi currently serves as Patagonia’s Environmental Advocate, helping to sharpen and strengthen the company’s voice and vision on environmental and conservation issues as Patagonia pursues its mission: being in business to save the home planet. Nominated by President Obama and confirmed with the unanimous consent of the Senate, Avi served as General Counsel at EPA from 2013 to 2017 – the longest to hold that position - and prior to that served as the Agency’s Deputy General Counsel. Avi’s service as EPA General Counsel occurred during the most advanced efforts of the federal government to address climate change, and Avi played important roles in developing, implementing, and defending key domestic and international climate change strategies. Avi also helped lead the environmental practice of a major international law firm, and was a distinguished federal prosecutor in the U.S. Department of Justice. Avi received the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Public Service from the University of Virginia School of Law, obtained a Masters Degree is Marine Affairs, and serves on the Board of Trustees for Rare, an international conservation organization, and on the Board of the Organic Trade Association.