Randall Abate
Randall Abate
J.D., Vermont Law School, 1989
M.S.L., Vermont Law School, 1989
B.A., University of Rochester, Cum Laude, 1986
For three decades, Professor Abate has taught courses and published books and articles addressing domestic and global environmental governance (with a recent emphasis on climate change law and justice), human rights and the environment (including the protection of future generations, indigenous peoples, climate displaced peoples, and disproportionately burdened communities), ocean and coastal law, constitutional law, and the parallels and synergies between animal law and environmental law.
His work seeks to center and uplift the underrepresented human and non-human communities in the climate crisis through strategic litigation against governmental and private sector entities, and exposing and combating greenwashing and climate washing. It also explores new ways to advocate for and implement climate justice and ocean equity protections for coastal and Indigenous communities.
In his teaching, he embraces a student-centered approach, mentoring and challenging students to research and write on cutting-edge issues in environmental law, climate governance, and animal law. In working under his supervision on seminar papers and directed research projects, Professor Abate's students have been published in more than 50 academic law journals and have presented their scholarship around the nation and the world.
Select Recent and Forthcoming Publications
CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE VOICELESS: PROTECTING FUTURE GENERATIONS, WILDLIFE, AND NATURAL RESOURCES (Cambridge University Press, 2d ed, 2026)
WHAT CAN ANIMAL LAW LEARN FROM ENVIRONMENTAL LAW? (ELI Press 2d ed., 2020)
Standing, in CAMBRIDGE HANDBOOK ON CLIMATE LITIGATION (Cambridge University Press 2025)
Greening the Forum: International Arbitration as a Pathway for Enforcing ESG in Climate Adaptation Commitments in Latin America, 58 Cornell Int’l L.J. 171 (2025) (co-authored with Carla Noriega) (lead article)
Putting Lipstick on a Pig: Biogas, Methane Digesters, and the Greenwashing Playbook, 54 Env’t L. 545 (2024)
Enhancing Protection of “Climate Refugees” in Destination Hubs: A Comparative Analysis of Legal Mechanisms and Governance Challenges in the U.S. and India, 37 Harv. Hum. Rts. J. 293 (2024) (coauthored with Chhaya Bhardwaj)
Coastal Migration With Dignity: Safeguards forVulnerable Communities Disproportionately Burdened by Sea Level Rise Impacts, 54 Env’t L. Rep. 10744 (2024) (co-authored with Aashini Choksi)
Litigation to Protect the Marine Environment: Parallels and Synergies with Climate Litigation, 47 Wm. & Mary Env’t L. & Pol’y Rev. 595 (2023) (co-authored with Nadine Nadow and Hayley Dorrian-Bak)
“Fool Me Once, Shame on You”: Promoting Corporate Accountability for the Human Rights Impacts of Climate Washing, 18 Intercultural Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 1 (2023) (lead article)
Youth and Indigenous Voices in Climate Justice: Leveraging Best Practices from U.S. and Canadian Litigation, 45 Public Land & Resources L. Rev. 77 (2022)
Anthropocene Accountability Litigation: Confronting Common Enemies to Promote a Just Transition, 46 (No. S) Colum. J. Env’t L. 225 (2021) (climate change symposium issue)