Environmental lawyer
Dr Emma Carmody is an international environmental lawyer and environmental entrepreneur with particular expertise in wetlands, freshwater and the intersection between human rights and water. She has a long history of advising international organisations, treaty bodies, First Nations peoples, farmers, large conservation groups and community groups in Australia and globally. Emma served as sole Legal Advisor to the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention Wetlands for 5 years (2017-2022), a position which required her to advise during complex multilateral negotiations between nation states, as well as intersessionally.
She also spent over a decade working for the Environmental Defenders Office, including as Managing Lawyer of the Freshwater Program, where her work resulted in significant improvements to water laws in Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin. In early 2022, Emma co-founded a for-purpose business called ‘Restore Blue’, the objective of which is to work with local communities to restore lost blue carbon wetlands at scale in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region. Emma’s expertise has been recognised by listings in Best Lawyers in Australia (Water Law and Planning and Environmental Law). She is a fellow of the Peter Cullen Water and Environment Trust, a member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists and sits on the Strategic Advisory Council of the Alliance for Global Water Adaptation (AGWA).