At a time when unprecedented marine heat waves warm 40% of the oceans and much life at sea is endangered, the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University in White Plains, New York, is recognizing two distinguished women for their leadership negotiating the world’s first legal agreement to safeguard marine biodiversity. The 2024 Elisabeth Haub Award for Environmental Law and Diplomacy will be jointly awarded to Singapore’s Ambassador for International Law Rena Lee, and Senior High Seas Adviser to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Kristina Maria Gjerde, in recognition of their unwavering commitment to ocean conservation and their instrumental roles in advancing the 2023 UN Agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement).
“Ambassador Rena Lee and Kristina Maria Gjerde are exceptionally worthy Laureates for the Elisabeth Haub Award for Environmental Law and Policy,” said Horace E. Anderson Jr., dean of the law school and president of the Haub Award Jury. “Their diplomatic leadership has provided a much-needed environmental legal framework for the high seas, 70% of the earth’s surface outside of the sovereignty of all nations. The BBNJ Agreement provides a new focus for safeguarding the ocean’s resources. It comes just in time and is a uniquely important contribution to international environmental law.”
