Climate change has become one of the most significant drivers of human mobility worldwide, forcing millions to leave their homes. The Groundswell report by the World Bank predicts that by 2050, 216 million people could be internally displaced due to climate-related factors. Similarly, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center recorded 26.4 million new displacements caused by disasters in 2023 alone.[1]
Starting in the Fall 2025–Spring 2026 academic year, GW Law’s Environmental and Energy Law program is proud to become the first in the nation to offer a scholarship dedicated to supporting one Master of Laws (LLM) degree candidate each year in pursuing a thesis project focused on ocean equity.
This initiative expands our program’s emphasis on environmental justice, climate justice, and energy justice, empowering students to lead in the emerging field of ocean equity. Similar to these other justice frameworks, ocean equity centers on safeguarding the rights of communities disproportionately affected by environmental challenges.
In particular, it focuses on protecting small-scale and Indigenous fishing communities’ access to fisheries, ensuring their livelihoods and cultural heritage are preserved while leveraging their stewardship of marine ecosystems to combat anthropogenic threats such as pollution, overfishing, and climate change. On a global scale, ocean equity also aims to secure equitable access to fisheries for nations in the Global South.
We invite all interested applicants to submit their LLM application to the Graduate and International Programs Office no later than March 15, 2025. The Graduate and International Programs Office handles all LLM admissions and scholarship matters. Information on how to apply and the required documents can be found here. All applicants will be notified of the decision no later than May 1, 2025.
If you have any questions about the application process or admissions requirements, please reach out to Assistant Dean Shehernaz Joshi sjoshi@law.gwu.edu.
On October 29, 2024, GW’s Environmental and Energy Law program proudly hosted the Third Annual J.B. & Maurice C. Shapiro Distinguished Lecture on Global Climate Change and Energy Law, featuring Dr. Beatriz Martinez Romera, a leading authority in Environmental and Climate Change Law from the University of Copenhagen and Director of the Centre for Climate Change Law and Governance (CLIMA). This year’s lecture examined the integration of international environmental law obligations into the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from maritime shipping. Assistant Dean Randall Abate opened the event with a call for innovative legal frameworks to combat climate change, underscoring the necessity of equipping future leaders with the essential tools to address environmental challenges. Dean Dayna Matthew followed with a powerful declaration of commitment, stating, “We think we are creating a small army of world savers,” while expressing heartfelt gratitude to Professor Arnold Reitze, whom this lecture series honors, for his nearly four decades of leadership of GW’s Environmental and Energy Law program.
The Health Equity Policy & Advocacy Clinic – Environmental Justice (EJ) Division’s students Anna Aguilar,Sidney Lee, Jaylah Richie, and Emma Stinson successfully drafted and submitted comments to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on behalf of 20 organizations, associations, and individuals. The comments respond to the lowering of the definition of elevated blood lead level (EBLL) in the Lead Safe Housing Rule (LSHR) to match the current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) blood lead reference value. The Clinic’s submission combines environmental justice, housing justice, and health equity principles and standards to argue for the protection of children from lead hazards. Specifically, the Clinic pointed out HUD’s significant delay in adopting the CDC reference value and urged HUD to engage in primary prevention to protect vulnerable children from lead poisoning and its permanent harm.
The students conducted legal and public health research and analysis, and stakeholder outreach activities. To prepare the comments, they answered administrative law questions, analyzed statutory language, reviewed scientific data, reached out to experts, created fact sheets, and collaborated with the Clinic’s partner organizations to review their findings and receive feedback. The students also alerted nonprofits and encouraged submissions that urged HUD to follow health-based and environmental justice best practices. The students’ outreach prompted many organizations to join their comment or send in their own comment that incorporated the Clinic comment by reference. In addition, GW Law and Medical School student groups joined the comment.
Just north of Washington, D.C., Montgomery County in Maryland is implementing a plan to have a transit depot that will eventually host buses fueled by hydrogen cells. An on-site electrolyzer will produce the hydrogen used as fuel, and a microgrid will use solar generation to power the depot and the electrolyzer. The EMTOC project, which broke ground in June 2024, will host:
