The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University will award Professor Paulo de Bessa Antunes, an environmental scholar and leading professor of environmental law at Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, and head of the Environmental Practice of Campos Mello Advogados (Brazil) with Professor Paulo de Bessa Antunes, an environmental scholar and leading professor of environmental law at Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, head of the Environmental Practice of Campos Mello Advogados (Brazil), and a Haub Visiting Scholar at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law in the spring of 2019 with the 2022 Elisabeth Haub Award for Environmental Law and Diplomacy.
He will receive the 2022 Award in recognition of his tireless advocacy to support the development and implementation of laws protecting the environment in Brazil, including filing several successful lawsuits to protect the environment over the three decades he worked in the Federal Public Prosecution Service. These lawsuits resulted in the establishment of the Reserva Beach protected area in Rio de Janeiro; the destruction of highly toxic PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), so that they were not released into the environment; and the abandonment of plans to construct a bridge in indigenous territory over the objection of the indigenous Xerente. In gratitude, the Xerente presented him with an honorary citizenship.
Bessa is a leading contributor to, proponent and defender of the environmental rule of law in Brazil. He is the author of several books and his articles and work are regularly cited by Brazilian courts, including the Supremo Tribunal Federal (Federal Supreme Court). He is also influential in influencing public environmental policy, exhibiting courage and leadership by co-authoring an open letter critiquing political roll backs in Brazilian environmental policy. He has taught, mentored and inspired generations of students and young lawyers to care for their country”™s environmental heritage through law.
The Elisabeth Haub Award for Environmental Law and Diplomacy was established in 1997 by the School of Law in cooperation with the Haub Family, to honor the legacy of Elisabeth Haub (1899”“1977), a noted philanthropist and advocate for strong laws for the conservation of nature.
“The Elisabeth Haub School of Law”™s No. 1-ranked environmental law program continues to train lawyers to understand the intersection between climate justice, the environment and the law,” said Haub Law Dean Horace E. Anderson Jr.
The ceremony for the 2022 Elisabeth Haub Award for Environmental Law and Diplomacy honoring Professor Paulo de Bessa Antunes will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 6 p.m. and be broadcast virtually. More details to come.
