Dr Ashfaq Khalfan

Dr Ashfaq Khalfan is the Director of the Sustainability Regulation Observatory and a Distinguished Policy Fellow at LSE. His work focuses on critical analysis of sustainability regulation and its political economy, with an emphasis on regulatory design choices that are politically and economically sound and advance human rights, equality and environmental protection.

He brings over two decades of international leadership at the intersection of climate governance, sustainable development and human rights. He previously served as the Director of Climate Justice at Oxfam America, leading research, advocacy, litigation and policy development on energy transition, climate finance, climate inequality and tax and climate policy. Previously, he was Director of the Law and Policy Programme at Amnesty International where he oversaw Amnesty’s first global climate strategy and directed legal and policy research, analysis and advocacy spanning civil liberties, criminal justice, strategic litigation and environmental impacts on human rights.

His scholarship and practice include co-authoring the Maastricht Principles on Extraterritorial Obligations and the Maastricht Principles on the Human Rights of Future Generations and their commentaries, which influenced international human rights jurisprudence. He engaged in advocacy that contributed to the UN Human Rights Council’s recognition of the human rights to water and sanitation. He holds a doctorate in law from Merton College, Oxford University, degrees in common law, civil law, and political science from McGill University. He is Chair and a founding Director of the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law.