Dr. Maria Antonia Tigre

Dr. Maria Antonia is the Director of Global Climate Change Litigation at the Sabin Center. She manages the Sabin Center's Global Climate Change Litigation Database with the support of the Sabin Center's Peer Review Network of Climate Litigation. Maria Antonia is a leading expert in the field of climate change law and climate litigation, having published dozens of articles on the topic. She also co-heads the Sabin Center and GNHRE's project on Climate Litigation in the Global South. Her research particularly focuses on rights-based climate litigation, climate litigation in the Global South, and the forthcoming advisory opinions on climate change. 

With extensive experience in the field, she previously worked as a Senior Attorney at the Environment Program of the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice. During her tenure, she provided pro bono legal services to NGOs worldwide, focusing on issues related to protected areas and the intersection of human rights and the environment. Prior to her work at the Vance Center, Maria Antonia held a fellowship position at the World Resources Institute. Before, she practiced law in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the private sector. Maria Antonia also serves as the Deputy Director of the Global Network for Human Rights and the Environment (GNHRE), where she collaborates with scholars and practitioners to study the relationship between human rights and the environment.

As a member of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law, Maria Antonia actively contributes to developing and advancing environmental legal frameworks. She has authored numerous publications on regional and international environmental law, with a specific focus on environmental rights, the evolution of international environmental law, and climate litigation. Her research also encompasses the protection of the Amazon ecosystem, emphasizing the importance of regional cooperation.

Maria Antonia is a sought-after speaker at conferences and symposiums and has delivered a TEDx talk. She completed her Doctorate in Juridical Studies (S.JD.) at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University in 2022. In 2013, she earned a dual LL.M., magna cum laude, specializing in environmental law and comparative legal studies, from the same institution. Maria Antonia obtained her LL.B. from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

 

  • From State to Corporate Liability in Climate Litigation: How Can Urgenda-type Cases Inform the Responsibility of Private Companies to Mitigate Climate Change?,” Climate change litigation in Europe: Regional, Comparative and Sectoral Perspectives 349 (I. Alogna et al., eds., Intersentia, 2023)
  • Competing Perspectives and Dialogue in Climate Change Advisory Opinions, 117 AJIL Unbound 227 (with A. Rocha) (2023) (link)
  • The ‘Fair Share’ of Climate Mitigation: Can Litigation Increase National Ambition for Brazil?, Journal of Human Rights Practice (2023) (link)
  • What would a favorable ICJ AO look like and what would it mean for the progressive development of international law and broadly for climate action?, 1(1) Environmental Rights Review 41-44 (2023) (link)
  • Beyond the North-South divide: Litigation’s role in resolving climate change loss and damage claims Rev. of Eur., Comp. and Int’l Env’t L. (2023) (link) (with M. Wewerinke-Singh)
  • International Recognition of the Right to a Healthy Environment: What is the Added Value for Latin America and the Caribbean?, Am. J. of Int’l L. Unbound (2023) (link)
  • Transnational Insights for Climate Litigation at the European Court of Human Rights: A South-North Perspective in Pursuit of Climate Justice, 56 VRÜ | WCL 299 (2023) (link) (with M. Murcott and N. Zimmerman)
  • Global Climate Litigation Report: 2023 Status Review, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia Law School & United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) (2023) (with M. Burger)
  • Katelyn Horne, Maria Antonia Tigre and Michael Gerrard, Status Report on Principles of International and Human Rights Law Relevant to Climate Change (Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, 2023), available at https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/faculty_scholarship/3924/.
  • Maria Antonia Tigre, Lorena Zenteno, Marlies Hesselman, Natalia Urzola, Pedro Cisterna-Gaete, Riccardo Luporini, Just Transition Litigation in Latin America: An Initial Categorization of Climate Litigation Cases Amid the Energy Transition (Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, January 2023), available at https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/sabin_climate_change/197/.
  • Climate Litigation in Latin America: Is the region quietly leading a regional revolution?, 14(1) J. Hum. Rts. & Envt. 67–93 (2023) (link) (with N. Urzola and A. Goodman)
  • Climate Change and Indigenous Groups: The Rise of Indigenous Voices in Climate Litigation, 9(3) E-Publica 214 (2022) (link)
  • 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)
  • A Voice in the Development of Amazonia: The Constitutional Rights to Participation of Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Amazonia, Regional Development and Territorial Dynamics: Contentious Issues (I.B. de Lima et al., eds., Springer, 2020) (with S.C. Slinger) (link)
  • Implementing Constitutional Environmental Rights in the Amazon Rainforest, Implementing Environmental Constitutionalism: Current Global Challenges (E. Daly and J. May, eds., Cambridge University Press, 2019) (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 (Brill Nijhoff, 2017) (link)
  • Trends in Climate Justice Litigation: The Dutch Case and Global Repercussions, Climate Justice: Case Studies in Global and Regional Governance Challenges (R.S. Abate, ed., ELI Press, 2016) (with J. Huang) (link)

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