Menu

Louis Kotzé

Photo by Maximilian Glas
PROGRAM CHAIRS/

Louis
Kotzé


Faculty of Law, North-West University, South Africa

BIO

Louis is Research Professor of Law at the Faculty of Law, North-West University in South Africa. He is also Senior Professorial Fellow in Earth System Law at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, and currently serves as the co-chair of the Earth System Governance Network’s Scientific Steering Committee. His research focuses on human rights, socio-ecological justice and environmental constitutionalism; law and the Anthropocene; and Earth system law. He has over 200 publications on these topics. Louis is an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Fellow, and in 2018 he was awarded a European Commission Horizon 2020 Marie Curie Fellowship to lead a project on Global Ecological Custodianship-Innovative International Environmental Law for the Anthropocene at the University of Lincoln. In 2022 he served as the Klaus Töpfer Sustainability Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies in Potsdam. Next to his academic commitments, he is assistant editor of the journal Earth System Governance; a Senior Fellow of the Earth System Governance Network; and a member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Commission on Environmental Law.

Louis will join THE NEW INSTITUTE in January 2023 as chair of the program “Governing the Planetary Commons: a Focus on the Amazon”.

QUESTIONS

What gives you hope?
The surprising resilience of a vulnerable living order, despite, and because of, the deepening social- ecological crisis.


How does change happen?
By never ceasing to question and confront, head-on, the many pervasive predatory patterns of exploitation, domination and privilege that characterize our uneven world order.


What inspires you?
The immense capacity of some humans to love and care.

PUBLICATIONS

Research Handbook on Law, Governance and Planetary Boundaries, 2021 (with Duncan French)


“Earth System Law: The Juridical Dimensions of Earth System Governance” in Earth System Governance, 2019 (with Rakhyun E. Kim)


“The Anthropocene, Earth System Vulnerability and Socio-ecological Injustice in an Age of Human Rights” in Journal of Human Rights and the Environment, 2019


“Rethinking Global Environmental Law and Governance in the Anthropocene” in Journal of Energy and Natural Resources Law, 2014


Global Environmental Constitutionalism in the Anthropocene, 2016

| stay informed | stay connected

NEWSLETTER

We are in this together – and our newsletter is the best way to connect and be inspired. Competent, constructive, creative. A wealth of insight and guidance in a world in turmoil.

Newsletter

We use cookies to measure how often our site is visited and how it is used. You can withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future. For further information, please refer to our privacy policy.