When leading international law scholars convened in Settat, Morocco, for the 2019 Middle East and North Africa Environmental Law Scholars conference earlier this month, they set out to determine how law schools and universities in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region can propel climate action through innovative teaching. 
The conference, sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme, and hosted by the College of Law at Hassan First University in Morocco, in strategic partnership with the College of Law at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) in Doha, Qatar; the Laboratory for Research on Comparative Democratic Transition, Morocco; and LexisNexis Middle East and North Africa.
Building on the success of its inaugural conference held at the HBKU College of Law in 2018, this year’s conference brought together leading environmental law scholars, practitioners and policymakers to discuss the role of education in advancing climate change action in the region. The conference also represented an opportunity for attendees to brainstorm for the most effective means of integrating climate change law teaching into university curricula in the region. Particular attention was paid to how Mena countries can advance investment in climate-smart infrastructure, i.e. buildings, structures and systems that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve society’s ability to adapt to, and cope with, the risks posed by climate change. 
While welcoming attendees to the conference, the President of Hassan First University of Settat, Dr Khadija Essafi, underscored the importance of education as a necessary tool to inform, inspire and motivate stakeholders across all key sectors to support global efforts to address climate change. Similarly, in her opening address, Aphrodite Smagadi, legal officer of the law division at the UN Environment Programme in Nairobi, Kenya, highlighted the crucial importance of including climate change law as a subject in higher education curricula. 
“This conference presents an opportunity to further enhance teaching, learning and research on climate change law in the Mena region” she said. She also highlighted how Mena environmental law scholars can benefit from diverse international resources, networks and programmes to enhance capacity for teaching and promoting climate change law in the region. 
The first keynote lecture by Dr Mahjoub El Haiba, member of the National Council for Human Rights of Morocco, highlighted how climate change could threaten the realisation of several human rights in the region. According to El Haiba, climate change poses significant threats to human rights in the Mena region. By integrating climate change education into university curricula, Mena environmental law scholars can provide a tool for reducing those risks, he concluded. 
Similarly, the second keynote lecture by Professor Randall Abate, Rechnitz Family/Urban Coast Institute Endowed Chair in Marine and Environmental Law and Policy, Monmouth University, United States, emphasised that future generations, wildlife, and natural resources, who collectively are “the voiceless” are the most vulnerable and least equipped populations to protect themselves from the impacts of global climate change. He called for a “stewardship-focused and rights-based system derived from the mandate inherent in the concept of sustainable development” as a way forward to mitigate the common vulnerabilities of the voiceless in the current geological era. 
The four workshops at the conference featured presentations by eminent scholars from United States, Canada, Kenya, as well as regional experts from across the Arab region. Other collaborators included representatives of Kuwait Environment Police, LexisNexis Middle East & North Africa, and representatives from organisations and ministries in Morocco. 
A significant outcome of the conference was the official inauguration of the first Executive Council of the Association for Environmental Law Lecturers in Middle East and North African Universities (ASELLMU), comprising regional environmental law experts who will continue to steer the research, training and outreach mandates of the association. 
Dr Damilola Olawuyi, associate professor at the HBKU’s College of Law and founding chair of ASSELMU, said: “This year’s conference has greatly highlighted the important roles of academics, and non-academics from financial, government, and industrial spheres, in addressing the deep vulnerabilities of the Mena region to the grave impact of climate change. The HBKU College of Law, as well as the newly inaugurated expert committees of ASSELLMU, will continue to work closely with all stakeholders to unearth practical training, research and innovative solutions to these problems.” 
Professor Riyad Fakhri, Vice-Chair (North Africa); Dr Ardit Memeti, Vice-Chair (Middle East); Dr Omar Khataibeh, Chair of the Committee on Judiciary and Environmental Law Practice; Dr Dalal Aassouli, Chair of the Committee on Industry Outreach and Policy Research; and Dr Aziza Moneer, Chair of the Young Members Committee, are also elected to the committee. 
A scientific committee consisting of environmental law ‘champions’ from across the Mena region has been inaugurated to organise the next ASSELMU conference, to be held in Kuwait in 2020.  
Dr Susan L Karamanian, dean of the College of Law at HBKU emphasised the value of participating in global conferences of this nature: “It was an honour to extend the college’s strategic partnership with ASELLMU for a second consecutive year. Doing so reflects that we are increasingly at the heart of debates currently shaping global legal discourse. These include efforts to enhance and expand the academic teaching of climate law. Thanks to its geographical location, Qatar has more than a passing interest in this particular issue. It’s also why we’re committed to developing teaching options that traverse civil, common, and Shariah legal systems,” she concluded.
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