Professor M Shawkat Alam is Professor of International and Environmental Law at Macquarie Law School, a member of the Environmental Law Research Centre and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law. He is known for bringing Global South priorities into the study of international environmental law, trade regulation and sustainable development. His scholarship examines how international legal regimes distribute regulatory authority, development opportunities and environmental burdens between states, and how those regimes operate where institutional, technical and financial capacities differ.

Across public international law, WTO law, environmental governance, investment, human rights and natural resources, Professor Alam has developed a sustained body of work on equity and implementation. His research demonstrates that international environmental commitments cannot be assessed solely by their formal ambition: their legitimacy and effectiveness also depend on differentiated capacity, meaningful participation, access to technology and finance, and the ability of national institutions to translate global norms into practice.

This intellectual programme connects scholarship with institution building. A former Dean of Macquarie Law School and Director of its Centre for Environmental Law, Professor Alam has combined research with curriculum leadership, doctoral training and capacity-building initiatives involving governments, United Nations agencies and development partners across South and Southeast Asia.

Professor Alam’s work is organised around a central question: how can international economic and environmental law support ecological protection without reproducing structural inequality or constraining legitimate development priorities? His contribution is particularly visible in three connected areas.

• Trade, environment and distributive justice. His research examines how WTO rules, investment agreements and environmental measures allocate regulatory space and compliance costs. It advances approaches that enable climate action and biodiversity protection while recognising the development needs and institutional constraints of vulnerable economies.
• Global South approaches to international environmental law. Professor Alam places equity, differentiated responsibility and implementation capacity at the centre of the discipline. His work treats Global South experience not as a regional supplement, but as essential to understanding the authority, legitimacy and effectiveness of international law.
• Governance, natural resources and institutional capability. His scholarship connects forests, fisheries, oceans, biodiversity, human rights and sustainable livelihoods with the institutions responsible for implementation. It shows why legal reform must be supported by accountable administration, community participation, technology transfer, development finance and access to justice.

Current Research and Relevance

Professor Alam’s current research addresses the changing relationship between international economic law and environmental governance. It focuses on climate-related trade measures, energy transition, sustainable investment, biodiversity conservation, transnational forest governance and the implementation of sustainable-development commitments.

He is co-editing The Energy Transition Beyond the Energy Charter Treaty: Adapting to Climate Change (Hart Publishing, in preparation for 2026). The volume examines the consequences of withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty and evaluates future models for regulating energy trade and investment across Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Asia-Pacific. This work extends his long-standing inquiry into whether investment protection can be reconciled with climate responsibility, regulatory autonomy and an equitable energy transition.

His recent work also engages directly with the WTO’s encounter with EU climate and palm-oil regulation, sustainable investment and biodiversity, and the institutional implementation of Agenda 2030. These questions place his expertise at the centre of contemporary debates on climate-related trade policy, energy governance and the distributional consequences of the global transition.

Selected Publications

Sustainable Development and Free Trade: Institutional Approaches (Routledge, 2008).

A systematic account of the institutional trade-environment nexus and its implications for developing countries.

International Environmental Law and the Global South (co-edited, Cambridge University Press, 2015).

A major collection that reoriented international environmental law around equity, development, differentiated responsibility and Southern experience.

Routledge Handbook of International Environmental Law (co-edited, Routledge, 2012).

A wide-ranging reference work on the principles, institutions and emerging problems of international environmental law.

International Natural Resources Law, Investment and Sustainability (co-edited, Routledge, 2018).

An examination of how investment and natural-resource regimes can reconcile development, environmental protection and community interests.

Implementation of Sustainable Development in the Global South: Strategies, Innovations and Challenges (co-edited, Hart Publishing, 2024).

A study of the national capacities, institutional arrangements, justice concerns and implementation challenges shaping Agenda 2030 in the Global South.

Investment Protection, Human Rights and Biodiversity Conservation (co-authored, Routledge, 2024).

An analysis of the relationship between investment protection, state responsibility, human rights and biodiversity governance.

For the complete publication record, see Research outputs on the Macquarie University research portal.

Research, Engagement and the Sustainable Development Goals

Professor Alam’s research advances the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through its focus on the legal and institutional conditions for equitable implementation. His work on energy transition, sustainable production, climate governance and biodiversity contributes particularly to SDGs 7, 12, 13 and 15. Research on food and fisheries, public health, trade, investment, technology and inequality engages SDGs 2, 3, 8, 9 and 10. His work on access to justice, rule of law, public institutions and transnational capacity building supports SDGs 16 and 17.

These commitments are reflected in research and training initiatives involving UNDP, UNIDO, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the British Council and government partners across South and Southeast Asia. The projects have addressed treaty participation, sustainable trade, forest and natural-resource governance, climate policy, environmental administration and executive education for public officials.

For funded and collaborative work, see Research projects and Research activities.

Professor Alam brings more than two decades of legal education experience across undergraduate, postgraduate and higher degree research programs. Before joining Macquarie Law School, he taught in the LLB programs at Rajshahi University and the University of Dhaka. At Macquarie, he has taught or convened 19 units across public international law, international environmental law, WTO and trade law, human rights, sustainable development, environmental regulation and advanced legal research.

His teaching philosophy integrates active student-centred learning, the teaching-research nexus and distributed leadership. Contemporary disputes, treaty negotiations, policy problems and comparative case studies enable students to examine international law as both doctrine and institutional practice. His teaching foregrounds how differences in capacity, finance, technology and political economy affect the operation of legal rules across developed and developing countries.

Teaching areas and selected units

• International and economic law. International Law (LAWS8015); International Trade Law (LAWS5010 and LAWS8089); WTO law; international human rights law; and trade and environment.
• Environmental and sustainability law. Environmental Law (LAWS5060); Environmental Law and Sustainable Development (LAWS8055); Trade and Environment Law (LAWS8052); international environmental law; climate and energy-transition law; biodiversity and natural-resource governance.
• Research and interdisciplinary education. Advanced legal research, journal production and special-interest projects, together with teaching contributions in business law, international politics and international human rights politics.

Through roles as Dean, Director of Postgraduate Programs and Director of Higher Degree Research, Professor Alam has contributed to program design, curriculum renewal and academic policy. He has strengthened connections among international, environmental and trade law; embedded sustainability and Global South perspectives; and linked coursework with research, professional practice and public engagement. His international educational leadership includes service as Co-Chair of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law Teaching and Capacity Building Committee and as a trainer in its 'Train the Teachers’ Program.

Professor Alam’s academic leadership has connected research strategy, curriculum, international engagement and researcher development. He has served as Dean of Macquarie Law School; Director of the Centre for Environmental Law; Director of International Engagement; Director of Postgraduate Programs; and Director of Higher Degree Research. He currently contributes to Macquarie’s Environmental Law Research Centre and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law.

Editorial and international leadership

• Current editorial service. Member of the Editorial Board of the Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law (2018-present) and Board of Editors of the Indonesian Journal of Environmental Law (2024-present).
• IUCN Academy leadership. Former Co-Editor-in-Chief of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law Journal; Co-Chair and member of the Academy’s Teaching and Capacity Building Committee; and international trainer in its ‘Train the Teachers’ Program.
• Recent visiting appointments. Visiting Scholar at Singapore Management University (2024); Visiting Researcher at Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency, BRIN (2023); Visiting Professor at the University of Hamburg and Singapore Management University (2022); and Senior Academic Fellow at Universitas Airlangga (2022).

Higher Degree Research Supervision (MRES, PhD)

Professor Alam has built a substantial doctoral research community spanning international and environmental law, WTO regulation, climate finance, fisheries and oceans, forest governance, biodiversity, migration, human rights, access to justice and public-sector reform. His supervision model integrates candidates into publication, collaboration and engagement networks while supporting the development of independent scholarly profiles.

His leadership has been recognised through Macquarie University’s Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Higher Degree Research Supervision (2012), Faculty awards for supervision excellence in 2012 and 2017, the Higher Degree Research Award for Building an Inclusive Research Culture (2011), and the Dean’s HDR Award for Encouraging Candidate Publications (2010).

Professor Alam welcomes MRes and PhD proposals on climate and energy-transition law, biodiversity, marine and ocean governance, sustainable investment, WTO-environment relations, human rights, natural and cultural heritage, transnational environmental regulation, multinational corporations, and Global South approaches to international law and development.

Supervisions 

Current Supervision — Primary Supervisor

• Peter Corne, ‘Ecological Civilization and the Re-Ordering of China’s Biodiversity Regulatory Regime’ (PhD).
• Steven Kavanagh, ‘Strengthening Public-Law Accountability and Enforceable Community Participation in Papua New Guinea’s Mining Governance: A Critical Evaluation of Community-Centred Governance Innovations’ (PhD).
• Rizky Banyualam Permana, ‘Constructing Trade and Sustainable Development Norms in the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement’ (PhD).
• Moonmoon Binta Aziz, ‘From Policy to Practice: Investigating Procedural Justice in the Governance of the Green Climate Fund in Bangladesh’ (PhD).

Completed Supervisions — Primary Supervisor

• Asanka Edirisinghe, ‘Integration of a Legal Personhood and Rights of Nature Approach into Sri Lanka’s Legal Framework for the Protection of Rivers against Pollution’ (PhD).
• Ethan Beringen, ‘Plenty of Fish in the Sea? Examining the Interaction between International Fisheries Law and International Biodiversity Law in the Anthropocene Context’ (PhD).
• Paul Govind, ‘Towards an Ethic of Responsibility in Planning Law’ (PhD).
• Zara Bending, ‘Governing the International Illegal Trade in Wildlife: How the Law of Treaties and Rules of the WTO Contend with the Trade in Rhino Horn’ (PhD).
• Rhys Manley, ‘Human Development Implications of Trade in Financial Services: A Capability Approach’ (PhD).
• Md. Saif Uddin Ahammad, ‘Implementation of the Trade Facilitation Framework under the WTO: An Assessment of the National Regulatory Framework in Bangladesh’ (PhD).
• Umme Sharaban Tahura, ‘Facilitating Access to Justice: Managing the Cost of Litigation in the Subordinate Courts of Bangladesh’ (PhD).
• Sheikh Mohammad Towhidul Karim, ‘Improving Patient Safety in Healthcare in Bangladesh: Opportunities and Challenges’ (PhD).
• Md. Abdul Mannan, ‘Law, Policy and Institutional Frameworks for Civil Service Reform in Bangladesh: Challenges and Opportunities’ (PhD).
• Abdullah Al Arif, ‘Achieving Sustainable Management of Marine Fisheries in Bangladesh: A Legal and Policy Analysis’ (PhD).
• Badiul Alam, ‘Governance of Multilateral Climate Funds and Access to Them through Legal, Policy and Institutional Frameworks: Opportunities and Challenges for Bangladesh’ (PhD).
• Najnin Begum, ‘Participatory Forest Governance for Sustainable Forest Management: Opportunities and Challenges in Bangladesh’ (PhD).
• Kirsten Davies, ‘Human–Nature: Can Traditional Customary Law Contribute to Climate Change Adaptation? A South Pacific Study’ (PhD).
• Peerapon Jaderojananont, ‘The Cooperative Management and Conservation of Transboundary Heritage Sites in the Southeast Asian Region’ (PhD).
• Sheikh Noor Mohammad, ‘An Evaluation of the Integration of an Ecosystem-Based Approach into the Legal and Policy Framework for the Sustainable Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem: A Case Study of the Sundarbans of Bangladesh’ (PhD).
• S. M. Atia Naznin, ‘Judging the Right to Housing: Towards an Appropriate Judicial Remedy in Litigation concerning Forced Slum Evictions in Bangladesh’ (PhD).
• Muhammad Towhid Islam, ‘The TRIPS Agreement of the WTO: Implications and Challenges for Bangladesh’ (PhD).
• Sharmin Jahan Tania, ‘The Interface between Market Access and Sustainable Development: Implications for Least-Developed Countries’ (PhD).
• Mia Mahmudur Rahim, ‘Corporate Social Responsibility and Small and Medium Enterprises: Challenges and Options’ (PhD).
• Yuri Suzuki, ‘A Regional Legal Framework on Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit-Sharing in Small Island Developing States in the South Pacific Region’ (PhD).
• Tanzim Afroz, ‘Legal Framework for Coastal Zone Management in Bangladesh’ (PhD).
• Pradip Royhan, ‘The Interface between Environmental and Health-Related Requirements and Market Access: Challenges for Least-Developed Countries’ Market Access under the WTO’ (PhD).
• Charu Sharma, ‘Civil Liability for Environmental Damage: An Analysis of Environmental Claims under Private and Public Law in India’ (PhD).
• Shireen Daft, ‘The Relationship between Human Security Discourse and International Law: A Principled Approach’ (PhD).
• Laely Nurhidayah, ‘Transboundary Haze Pollution in the ASEAN Region: An Assessment of the Regional and National Legal Frameworks in Indonesia’ (PhD).

Completed Supervisions — Associate Supervisor

• Ummey Tahura, ‘Case Management in Reducing Backlog: Potential Adaptation from the NSW District Court to the Bangladeshi Civil Trial Courts’ (MPhil).
• Hau Nguyen, ‘Vietnamese Corporate Governance Mechanisms through the Transplantation of Australian Corporate Governance’ (PhD).
• Nadira Sultana, ‘A Critical Exploration of Policy and Practice Pertaining to Climate Justice, Sustainable Development and Gender Mainstreaming: A Case Study of Bangladesh’ (PhD).
• Nakib Mohammad Nasrullah, ‘Corporate Social Responsibility in Bangladesh: The Concerns of Private Enterprises’ (MPhil).
• Harold Baroi, ‘The Right to Information Act: Issues and Challenges in Its Implementation in Bangladesh’ (PhD).
• Rizwanul Islam, ‘Trade Cooperation within SAARC and the Possibility of Integration: A Historical, Legal and Economic Perspective’ (PhD).
• Trish Blazey, ‘The Value of Carbon Sinks in Mitigating Greenhouse Gas Emissions’ (PhD).
• Shima Zaman, ‘Mainstreaming Human Rights Issues in the WTO Agreements: A New Era for Enforcing Human Rights Obligations in International Trade’ (PhD).
• Jakerul Abedin, ‘International Watercourses Law and the Utilisation of Freshwater Resources in the Ganges Basin’ (PhD).
• Natalia Rodriguez Uribe, ‘Rights-Based Environmental Protection in Colombia: Implementation Challenges concerning Environmental and Cultural Diversity’ (PhD).
• Mostafa Mahmud Naser, ‘Climate Change and Forced Migration’ (PhD).
• Iman Prihandono, ‘Violations of International Human Rights Law by Transnational Corporations in Indonesia: The Prospect of Transnational Litigation’ (PhD).

Research Engagement and Policy Impact

Professor Alam has led and contributed to research, consultancy and capacity-building initiatives involving the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the British Council and government partners across South and Southeast Asia.

These initiatives have supported developing-country participation in international treaty and trade processes; sustainable forest and natural-resource governance; climate policy and environmental administration; institutional understanding of trade, human rights and sustainable development; executive education for mid- and senior-level government officials; and partnerships among universities, governments and community organisations.

His public-policy contributions also include collaborative submissions to Australian parliamentary inquiries concerning faunal extinction and the illegal trade in elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn.

Professor Shawkat Alam maintains an extensive international network encompassing researchers, universities, professional associations, policymakers, government agencies, private-sector stakeholders and community organisations, with particular depth across South and Southeast Asia. Through institutional partnerships with the Governments of Bangladesh and Indonesia, and work involving the United Nations Development Programme, the British Council and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, he has contributed to capacity building, policy development and research collaboration that translate legal scholarship into institutional and policy practice. His wider partnerships across Australia, North America, Europe and the Global South foster transnational dialogue on sustainable development, environmental governance, international trade and social justice. 

Professor Alam welcomes collaboration with scholars, governments, international organisations and research candidates working on trade and climate measures, energy transition, sustainable investment, biodiversity and natural-resource governance, environmental justice, SDG implementation and Global South approaches to international law.

Prof Alam is also available for expert commentary on WTO–environment relations, international environmental law, sustainable development, energy and investment governance, and legal reform across South and Southeast Asia.

His complete research profile, research outputs, projects, activities and prizes and awards are available through Macquarie University.

He can be contacted at [email protected]; ORCID: 0000-0002-5351-2478.