INVITATION TO AN
INTERNATIONAL LAW AND SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR
Thursday 30 April 2015 2-5pm
followed by Garden Reception 5pm-6:30pm
2-5pm, 30 April 2015
LCIL Old Library, 5 Cranmer Rd, University of Cambridge Faculty of Law
After a presentation by one of the UN leaders of the global negotiations on the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs), this international experts and jurists seminar will focus on how international law can contribute to the
implementation of the SDGs, defining the emerging research and international law agenda on these crucial world
priorities in the post-2015 development agenda.
Welcome: Dr Markus Gehring, LCIL & Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge &
Prof Jorge Vinuales, Director, C-EENRG, University of Cambridge
Keynote Speaker:
Mr Nikhil Seth, Director, United Nations Division on Sustainable Development
Discussants:
•
•
•
•
Ms Amanda Kron, Programme Coordinator, CISDL, Contributions of international law to ending poverty
Dr Stuart Bruce, Associate Fellow, CISDL, Contributions of international law to sustainable energy for all
Dr Claire Fenton-Glynn, Research Fellow, CISDL, Contributions of international law to achieving the education SDG
Mr Frederic Perron-Welch, Programme Coordinator, CISDL & Prof Jorge Cabrera, CISDL/University of
Costa Rica, Contributions of international law to protect biodiversity
• Ms Katherine Lofts, Programme Coordinator, CISDL & Dr Robert Kibugi, University of Nairobi, Contributions of international law to urgent action on climate change (online)
Chairs: Dr Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger, Senior Director, CISDL & Fellow, LCIL, University of Cambridge
and Ms Vuyelwa Kuuya, Legal Research Fellow, CISDL & Fellow, University of Oxford School of Politics
The seminar will be followed by a Special Guests Reception in the Gardens from 5-6:30pm, weather permitting, to
commemorate the United Nations and Voices of Future Generations partnership which was launched on the 25th
Anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Co-hosted by the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL) and the Lauterpacht Centre on
International Law (LCIL), University of Cambridge
BIOGRAPHY OF KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
Mr Nikhil Seth - Director, Division for Sustainable Development
Nikhil Seth, Director of the Division for Sustainable Development, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), led the Secretariat for the United Nations
Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). He currently leads the world’s efforts to
agree on global Sustainable Development Goals, which will be announced in the 70th Anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015.
During his career with the United Nations since 1993, Mr. Seth has served as Special Assistant and Chief of
Office to the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Chief of the Policy Coordination
Branch in the Division for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, as Secretary of the Economic and Social
Council (ECOSOC) and the Second Committee of the General Assembly, and as Director of the DESA Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, where he guided the ECOSOC’s work in implementing several
new key mandates, including its Annual Ministerial Review and Development Cooperation Forum. Before
joining the UN Secretariat, he was a Delegate to the UN in the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations and involved with various UN conferences and summits including the Rio Summit on Environment and
Development, the Copenhagen Summit on Social Development, the Monterrey Conference on Financing for
Development, the Mauritius Conference on Small Island Developing States, the Millennium Summit, World
Summit on Sustainable Development and the UN World Summit. He joined the Indian diplomatic service
in 1980 and his diplomatic assignments included Geneva, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African
Republic, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.