Dr. Maria Antonia Tigre

Dr. Maria Antonia joined the Sabin Center in September 2021 as the Global Climate Litigation Fellow. Prior to the Sabin Center, she was a senior attorney at the Environment Program of the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice, where she provided pro bono legal services to NGOs across the globe, especially in issues related to protected areas and the interface between human rights and the environment. Maria Antonia was previously a fellow at the World Resources Institute. The fellowship followed several years working in private practice in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Maria Antonia serves as the Deputy Director of the Global Network for Human Rights and the Environment (GNHRE), where she works with scholars and practitioners in the region to study the interface between human rights and the environment. In addition, Maria Antonia is a member of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law. 

Maria Antonia is the author of several publications on regional and international environmental law. She specifically focuses on issues concerning environmental rights, the reshaping of the existing framework of international environmental law, and climate litigation. Originally from Brazil, she also researches the environmental protection of the Amazon ecosystem, emphasizing regional cooperation. She is a TEDx speaker and a frequent speaker at conferences and symposiums.

Maria Antonia completed her Doctorate in Juridical Studies (S.JD. ) at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University in 2022.  She received a dual LL.M., magna cum laude, with certificates in environmental law and comparative legal studies, from the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, in 2013. She received her LL.B. from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

  • Reframing Global Biodiversity Protection after COVID-19: Is International Environmental Law up to the task?, 23 Vermont Envt. L. J. 123 (with N. Urzola and V. Lichet) (2022) (link)
  • Indigenous Communities of the Lhaka Honhat (Our Land) Association v. Argentina, 115(4) Am. J. Int’l L. 706 (2021) (link)
  • COVID-19 and Amazonia: Right-based approaches for the pandemic response, 30(2) Rev. of Eur., Comp. and Int’l Env’t L. 162 (2021) (link)
  • The 2017 Inter-American Court’s Advisory Opinion: changing the paradigm for international environmental law in the Anthropocene, 12(1) J. Hum. Rts. & Envt. 24 (with N. Urzola) (2021) (link)
  • Gaps in International Environmental Law: Toward a Global Pact for the Environment (ELI Press, 2020) (link)
  • Regional Cooperation in Amazonia: A Comparative Environmental Law Analysis (Brill½Nijhoff, 2017) (link)