Prof. Philippe Cullet

Research Statement

I am a professor in residence at National Law University, Meghalaya and Professor of international and environmental law at SOAS University of London. I received my doctoral degree in law from Stanford University, an MA in Development Studies from SOAS University of London, an LLM from King’s College London and a law degree from the University of Geneva.

I have published extensively on international and domestic environmental law, natural resources, water and sanitation and socio-economic rights and engages regularly with policymakers at the national and international levels. I was a member of the Government of India, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation’s Committee drafting the Draft National Water Framework Bill, 2016, the Model Groundwater (Sustainable Management) Act, 2017. I am currently the Chair of the World Commission on Environmental Law/IUCN’s Task Force on Rights of Nature.

I recently published the Oxford Handbook of Environmental and Natural Resources Law in India (OUP, 2024) [co-edited with L. Bhullar & S. Koonan], and will be publishing River Rejuvenation and River Rights: Evolving Debates in India (Routledge, forthcoming 2026) [co-edited with Ruchi Shree]. I am also guest editing a collection of papers arising from the inaugural conference of the School of Sustainability Studies on 'Tribal Environmental Governance and Rights of Nature in the Context of the Climate Crisis’. This special issue on 'Indigenous Ecological Knowledge in South Asia – Lessons for Rights of Nature Discourses’ will be published in the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences.

Areas of Interest

Environmental and natural resources law and policy, water and sanitation law and policy, climate crisis, biodiversity crisis, rights of nature

Membership Details

Editor – Law, Environment and Development Journal (LEAD-journal)
Chair – Rights of Nature Task Force (IUCN –World Commission on Environmental Law)