Lorenzo Cotula

Principal researcher (law and sustainable development), Natural Resources; team leader, legal tools

Lorenzo Cotula’s work sits at the interface where natural resource governance meets transnational economic relations. It cuts across traditionally segmented arenas: international law, including human rights and investment law; land and natural resource law and governance; political economy of development, natural resources and foreign investment; and legal empowerment, inclusive business and public accountability.

Full biography

Expertise

Land and natural resource governance; international economic law; human rights; law and political economy in natural resource investments; legal empowerment.

Extensive country experience in Africa and Asia, particularly low-income countries in these regions.

Before IIED

Research consultant to the Legal Office of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO); collaboration with two Italian NGOs.

Education
Postgraduate certificate in Sustainable Business, University of Cambridge; PhD in Law, University of Edinburgh; MSc in Development Studies (Distinction), London School of Economics; Degree in Law (cum laude), University "La Sapienza" of Rome.

Current work

Lead on Legal Tools for Citizen Empowerment – a collaborative initiative to strengthen local rights and amplify local voices as commercial agriculture, extractive industries and infrastructure projects increase pressures on resources.

Legal tools develops analysis, tests practical approaches and feeds into policy in areas such as rethinking investment treaties, laws and contracts; advancing legal empowerment to secure rural land rights and support farmers in agricultural value chains; and promoting accountability in local governance and transnational investment chains.