The Elisabeth Haub School of Law is proud to announce that the 2026 Elisabeth Haub Award for Environmental Law and Diplomacy will be jointly awarded to environmental lawyers Alfred Lahai Gbabai Brownell Sr. and Durwood Zaelke for their groundbreaking contributions to the progressive development of environmental law and their decades of leadership advancing environmental justice, climate action, and environmental governance around the world. The award will be presented during a ceremony at Pace University in New York City on Wednesday, October 21, 2026.
Both honorees have demonstrated the transformative power of law to address some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. Alfred Brownell has pioneered legal strategies to protect communities, environmental and climate defenders, and natural resources while advancing environmental rights and climate justice across Africa and globally. Durwood Zaelke has played a leading role in strengthening the Montreal Protocol and building on its success protecting the ozone layer to achieve significant climate benefits, including through the landmark Kigali Amendment.
“Alfred Brownell and Durwood Zaelke exemplify the vision and leadership that the Elisabeth Haub Award was created to recognize,” said Horace E. Anderson Jr., Dean of the Elisabeth Haub School of Law and President of the Haub Award Jury. “Throughout their distinguished careers, they have demonstrated the power of law and international cooperation to turn environmental priorities into meaningful action. Together, their work has strengthened legal systems and institutions, protected communities and the natural world, and advanced innovative responses to increasingly complex global environmental challenges. We are honored to recognize their extraordinary contributions.”
“Their work demonstrates the power of law, advocacy, and international cooperation to protect people and the natural world and to drive meaningful action on environmental challenges that transcend borders.”
—Liliane Haub
A Liberian environmental lawyer, law professor, and human rights advocate, Alfred Brownell is the Founding President of the Global Climate Legal Defense (CliDef), which provides legal support and protection to climate activists and defenders around the world. He previously founded and led Green Advocates International, Liberia’s first public interest environmental law and human rights organization, and has played a central role in advancing environmental justice, community land rights, natural resource governance, and corporate accountability across West Africa. He formerly served as Distinguished Scholar in Residence and Associate Research Professor at Northeastern University School of Law, visiting Fellow at Yale Law School, and Visiting Professor and Robert F. Drinian Chair 2024-2025 in Human Rights at Georgetown University School of Law.
Today, Brownell is leading efforts to strengthen environmental and climate governance across Africa, including a petition seeking an advisory opinion from the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights regarding the legal obligations of African States in responding to the climate crisis and an effort to develop a binding regional environmental rights treaty for Africa, where he serves as the Lead Campaigner for both the African Climate Platform ( ACP) and the Environmental Rights Africa Coalition ( ERA). Through CliDef, he is also building legal defense infrastructure to protect climate activists and other environmental defenders. In 2019, Brownell received the Goldman Environmental Prize for Africa for his efforts to protect Liberia’s tropical rainforests and communities threatened by large-scale palm oil development.
Durwood Zaelke is founder and President of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development (IGSD) and has played a leading role in strengthening the Montreal Protocol, the landmark international agreement credited with putting the ozone layer on a path toward recovery. His work has focused on maximizing both the ozone and climate benefits of the Protocol, including efforts to accelerate the phaseout of ozone-depleting HCFCs. Building on the success of the Montreal Protocol, Zaelke led IGSD’s eight-year campaign to secure the Kigali Amendment, which phases down HFC refrigerants—powerful greenhouse gases that had been widely adopted as replacements for ozone-depleting substances—and has the potential to avoid up to 0.5°C of warming by 2100.
Zaelke previously co-founded and served as President of the Center for International Environmental Law and spent nearly a decade as a litigator with the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, now Earthjustice. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and co-author of International Environmental Law & Policy.
“Alfred Brownell and Durwood Zaelke embody the courage, vision, and commitment necessary to move environmental law forward,” said Liliane Haub, environmental advocate, Pace University Trustee, and member of the Haub Award Jury. “Their work demonstrates the power of law, advocacy, and international cooperation to protect people and the natural world and to drive meaningful action on environmental challenges that transcend borders. My family and I are proud to honor their extraordinary contributions with the 2026 Elisabeth Haub Award for Environmental Law and Diplomacy.”
The Elisabeth Haub Award for Environmental Law and Diplomacy is the world’s most prestigious award in the field of environmental law. The Award has a distinguished history since 1979 shaped by progress in the field of environmental law and policy, and through collaborations with the Université libre de Bruxelles and the International Council of Environmental Law. In 2016, the family of Elisabeth Haub and the Elisabeth Haub School of Law established the award as it is known today to honor Elisabeth Haub (1899–1977), a noted philanthropist and advocate for strong laws for the conservation of nature. Chosen annually by an esteemed jury, the Award recognizes the innovation, skill, and accomplishments of lawyers, diplomats, international civil servants and other advocates who work to create the world environmental order. In 2025, the Haub Award was presented to Professor John H. Knox and Dr. David R. Boyd for their groundbreaking efforts as successive United Nations Special Rapporteurs on the human right to a healthy environment. Learn more about the Haub Award
The ceremony for the 2026 Elisabeth Haub Award for Environmental Law and Diplomacy honoring Alfred Lahai Gbabai Brownell Sr. and Durwood Zaelke will take place on Wednesday, October 21, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. ET at Pace University in New York City and will be broadcast virtually.
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