Professor Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger
PhD (Cantab), DPhil (Oxon), MEM (Yale), BCL & LLB (McGill), BA Hons (Carl/UVic) FRSC FRSA WIJA
Visiting Chair in Sustainable Development Law and Policy; Law Fellow; LLM/MCL Director of Studies, Lucy Cavendish College; Fellow of Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, C-EENRG, Bennett Institute for Public Policy
About me
Professor Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger is a world-leading scholar and jurist in sustainable development law and governance. She is Visiting Chair in Sustainable Development Law and Policy - University of Cambridge; Professor of Law – University of Victoria; Senior Director of the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law; Executive Secretary of the Climate Law and Governance Initiative for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change; and Chair of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity Law and Governance Initiative.
She leads global collaborations for climate law and governance, biodiversity and natural resources stewardship, human rights, Indigenous peoples' rights and future generations, trade and investment law and other international law contributing to the global SDGs. With over 20 years of experience in international treaty negotiations, she works as senior advisor to UN treaty negotiations, international organisations and countries implementing the SDGs.
Course
Awards
Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
HE Judge CG Weeramantry International Justice Award
Justitia Fundamentum Regnorum
Publications
Forthcoming:
Cordonier Segger, M.C. (2024). Sustainable Development Law: Principles, Practices and Prospects, 2nd edn, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Cordonier Segger, M.C., I. Espa & N. Schrijver, eds. (2025). Sustainable Development in International Law on Natural Resources, Alphen aan den Rijn: Wolters Kluwer.
Cordonier Segger, M.C., A Harrington & C. Voigt, eds. (2023). The Routledge Handbook of Climate Law and Governance: Courage, Contributions & Compliance, Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge.
Cordonier Segger, M.C. & S. Stephenson, eds. (2023). Research Handbook on Investment Law and Sustainable Development, Camberley: Edward Elgar.
Cordonier Segger, M.C. & D.A. Wardell, eds. (2023). Implementing CITES for Sustainable Development, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Published:
Cordonier Segger, M.C. (2021). Crafting Trade and Investment Accords for Sustainable Development: Athena’s Treaties(Opens in a new window), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
M.C. Cordonier Segger, M. Szabo & A. R. Harrington, eds. (2021). Intergenerational Justice in Sustainable Development Treaty Implementation: Advancing Future Generations Rights through National Institutions(Opens in a new window), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
M.C. Cordonier Segger & H.E. Judge C.G. Weeramantry, eds. (2017). Sustainable Development in International Courts and Tribunals(Opens in a new window), Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge.
M.C. Cordonier Segger, F. Perron-Welch & C. Frison, eds. (2013). Legal Aspects of Implementing the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety(Opens in a new window), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
S. Jodoin and M.C. Cordonier Segger, eds. (2013). Sustainable Development, International Criminal Justice and Treaty Implementation(Opens in a new window), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Selected Journal Articles
Cordonier Segger, M.C. (2019). Sustainable developments in international investment law and policy related to renewable energy and climate change mitigation and adaptation(Opens in a new window). Hungarian Yearbook of International Law and European Law, 7, 29.
Cordonier Segger, M.C., P. Holmgren & D.A. Wardell. (2018). Financing sustainable landscapes through innovative international economic law and governance instruments(Opens in a new window). Global Journal of Comparative Law, 7 (1), 169.
Cordonier Segger, M.C. (2017). Inspiration for integration: interpreting international trade and investment accords for sustainable development(Opens in a new window). Canadian Journal of Comparative and Contemporary Law, 3 (1), 159.
Cordonier Segger, M.C. (2017). Paris Agreement on Climate Change on a Sustainable Development Pathway(Opens in a new window). Canadian International Lawyer, 11 (2), 124.
Cordonier Segger, M.C. (2016). Advancing the Paris Agreement on climate change for sustainable development(Opens in a new window). Cambridge Journal of International and Comparative Law, 5 (2), 202.
Gehring, M., S. Stephenson & M.C. Cordonier Segger. (2016). Sustainability impact assessments as inputs and as interpretative aids in international investment law(Opens in a new window). Journal of World Investment and Trade, 17, 155.
Haywood, C., D.A. Wardell, M.C. Cordonier Segger & P. Holmgren. (2015). Legal frameworks for implementing REDD+ in Zambia, Mozambique and Tanzania: opportunities for a sustainable landscapes approach(Opens in a new window). Carbon Climate Law Review, 9 (2), 130.