Bryce Rudyk

  • Climate Program Director, Guarini Center on Environmental, Energy and Land Use Law
  • Adjunct Professor of Law

AREAS OF RESEARCH

Climate Change Law, International Environmental Law, International Law

Courses

  • Global Environmental Law, Science, and Governance Seminar

    This seminar is offered jointly with the Woodrow Wilson School and will be taught by NYU Professors Richard Stewart and Bryce Rudyk and Princeton Professor Michael Oppenheimer (formerly head of the Climate Change Program at Environmental Defense). It will focus on the international and comparative law and governance of environmental problems, such as climate change, ozone depletion, the warming Arctic, geo-engineering, fisheries management, trade in energy technologies, and biodiversity conservation. Current international and domestic laws and institutions to address many of these problems are fragmented and incomplete. The seminar will consider how more effective environmental protection regimes might be developed. The efficacy of diverse regulatory approaches in dealing with scientific and economic uncertainty will be explored, as will mechanisms for scientific advice to policy makers and participation by business firms and NGOs. Intersections between environmental regulation at both the domestic and international levels with other global regimes such as trade, investment, and multilateral development and aid programs will be explored. A number of classes will address these issues through case studies in a simulation format, where teams (composed jointly of law and Princeton students) will represent nations, NGOs, business interests, etc. in treaty or other negotiations, court arguments, and other proceedings regarding a specific global environmental regulatory and legal set of problems. Evaluation will be through class participation and simulation presentations and briefs.

  • International Environmental Law Seminar

    International Environmental Law is no doubt one of the most challenging and innovative fields in international law. The past four decades have seen the emergence of numerous international environmental principles and rules challenging many of the more established rules and principles in the international legal field. Furthermore, several multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) have been adopted and international environmental rules now regulate almost every environmental issue one can think of. For example, just to mention a few areas, there are treaties dealing with marine pollution, hazardous activities, atmospheric pollution, waste management, access to information and so on. This course aims to offer an examination of international environmental law to allow students to familiarize themselves with the structure and key concepts of this legal discipline. The course will begin with an overview of the key international legal principles and rules dealing with the protection of the environment. The course will then move through selected legal regimes, and then consider a number of cross-cutting issues in IEL, including compliance and trade and environment. Evaluation will be through a negotiation exercise and related legal brief (70%) and class participation (30%).

  • United Nations Diplomacy Clinic

    The United Nations headquarters in New York is a center of international law and international diplomacy. It is the one location in the world in which all states have diplomatic representation and makes decisions that have both global and domestic implications. For many small states, the engagement at the United Nations is central to their foreign affairs, but they do not always have sufficient capacity to engage in all issues that affect them. This clinic and seminar will place students in the Permanent Missions of member states at the United Nations to act as advisors on legal issues. Two students will be placed in each mission where they will each work 15-20 hours per week, providing drafting and negotiation support on resolutions at the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council and its main Committees. It is highly likely that students placed in the missions of the small island governments would be working on international environmental law related tasks, such as climate change, sustainable development and fisheries, given the importance of these issues for small island governments.

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Publications

Education

  • LLM (International Law), NYU School of Law, 2008
  • JD, University of Toronto School of Law, 2005
  • BSc (Biology), McMaster University, 2000

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