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Dr Tiago de Melo Cartaxo

Senior Lecturer in Environmental Law, Director of PGR for HaSS Cornwall

Tiago de Melo Cartaxo is a Senior Lecturer in Environmental Law in the University of Exeter, where he has founded the Exeter Centre for Environmental Law (ExCEL) and is part of Law and Business Cornwall (LAB/C), teaching and researching in the areas of environmental rights, climate and resilience justice, circular economy and the energy transition. He also is Director of Postgraduate Research for Humanities and Social Sciences, Cornwall. Previously, he was an invited professor in Environmental Law and Administrative Law at NOVA School of Law Lisbon, where he was awarded a European PhD in Law, with two national FCT fellowships and a Fulbright Scholarship for research in the University of Louisville. He has also received a Higher Education Teaching Certificate from Harvard University.

Holding a degree in Law from the University of Lisbon and a Masters in Environmental Law from the University of Coimbra, Tiago has founded and coordinated NOVA Law Green Lab and was a postdoctoral researcher in the University of Surrey School of Law, working in transcontinental projects on governance and regulation of single-use plastics. He worked as an attorney for law firms in Lisbon and advised local and national governments in the field of Environmental Law and Planning. In the Portuguese National Government, he accompanied the implementation of the Economic and Financial Assistance Programme (2011-2014) in the areas of the Environment and Economy. Under the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Tiago chaired the WPIEI (Basel) and coordinated an academic partnership with the Portuguese Environment Agency to monitor and implement international Conventions in the areas of waste and environmental assessment. He is a`n affiliate to the University of Exeter Environment and Sustainability Institute (ESI) and has been a member of the Society of Legal Scholars, Biodiversity and People Network, ILA Committee on Sustainable Development and the Green Economy in International Trade Law, the ICC Commission on Environment and Energy and the Global Network for Human Rights and the Environment.

Research interests

Tiago is open to multidisciplinary research in the following areas:

  • Environmental and Climate Law;
  • Environmental Rights and Environmental Justice;
  • Adaptive Legal Mechanisms applied to the Environment;
  • Law and Circular Economy;
  • Regulation of Smart and Sustainable Cities; and
  • United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Projects:

  • 2023: Research England Open Innovation Platform Collaboration Fund (£14,970.34 combined with £10,000.00 partner contributions from Cornwall Council: £24,970.34) – “Research on the effectiveness of the local environmental compliance regime within Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly”, Lead Applicant, with Dr Misan Afinotan (1st February – 30th November 2023);
  • 2022: Europe Network Fund (£12,000.00), “JustCE (LEX) – Toward a Just Circular Economy (Lund + Exeter)”, co-applicant, with Dr David Monciardini, Dr Carl Dalhammar, and Dr Lívia Regina Batista (1st March – 31st July 2023);
  • 2022: Research England Policy Support Fund (£20,236.00), “Making Cornwall a Biosphere Reserve? Local, National and International Policymaking for Effective Governance in Biosphere Reserves”, Lead Applicant, with Dr Swastee Ranjan (1st December 2022 – 31st July 2023);
  • 2022: Research England Policy Support Fund (£11,799.00), “Cornwall Food Policy Pact (CFPP)”, co-applicant, with Dr David Monciardini (15th January 2022 – 31st March 2022);
  • 2021: Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Discipline Hopping for Environmental Solutions Fund (£2,357.70 ), “Future-proof Interdisciplinary Interpretation of Environmental Law for Social-ecological Resilience”, Lead Applicant, with Dr Josh Martin and Dr Swastee Ranjan (by 31st March 2022); 
  • 2021: University of Exeter SSIS ADR Discretionary Fund (£4,809.00), “Exeter Centre for Environmental Law (ExCEL): Interdisciplinary and External Network-Building Workshops”, with Dr Josh Martin and Dr Swastee Ranjan (14th January 2022 – 31st July 2022);
  • 2020: Portuguese Environment Agency (250,525.00 Euro), “Implementation of the Basel and Espoo Conventions under the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union”, Coordinator (December 2020-December 2021).

Research supervision

 Tiago welcomes research supervisions in the areas of Environmental & Climate Law.

Research students

Current PhD supervisions are:

Other information

Office: A-161, 1st floor, Peter Lanyon Building, Penryn Campus

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