Rowena Maguire

Queensland University of Technology, Faculty of Law, Faculty Member

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Dr Rowena Maguire is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Law at QUT and a domain leader within the Institute for Future Environments at QUT. She publishes in the area of environmental/climate law and policy with a focus on equitable design. Rowena is currently working on two transdisciplinary funded projects in the area of: women and land-use issues and the circular economy and waste.

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Women, human rights and the global climate regime

It is now well understood that climate change represents a threat to the enjoyment of a wide rang... more It is now well understood that climate change represents a threat to the enjoyment of a wide range of human rights. Given that women are vulnerable to the effects of climate change due to a range of social, economic, cultural and political factors that influence their position in society, their human rights may be especially at risk. Despite the growing recognition of climate change as a human rights issue, the recently adopted Paris Agreement contains scant references to human rights, little engagement with the rights of women in particular, and no coverage of women's substantive rights in the operative sections of the Agreement. This article argues that more work is required to ensure that women's rights are adequately protected against the harms caused by anthropogenic climate change. Despite recent increases in women's participation in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, stronger and more targeted action is still required to give effect to the general recognition of women's rights. The article posits that a gender perspective on climate change can work to reinforce human-rights-based approaches by ensuring that women are afforded greater opportunities to participate in climate change negotiations. The article also argues for the implementation of policies that acknowledge and draw on women's experiences and are designed to advance their enjoyment of human rights. of climate change due to a range of social, economic, cultural and political factors which determine their position in society, and as such their human rights may be especially at risk. Women may also have different experiences of climate mitigation and adaptation measures, and thus potentially women's human rights might be more implicated in this respect as well. 2 Despite the recognition that climate change threatens the enjoyment of human rights, and despite increasing calls for a stronger human-rights-based approach to climate change, 3 the recently adopted Paris Agreement contains only scant references to human rights. Moreover, it contains little engagement with the rights of women in particular, and no coverage of women's substantive rights in the operative sections of the Agreement. 4 We will argue below that a richer understanding of the impacts of climate change on women can be achieved by adopting a perspective that recognizes the influence of gender on people's experiences of climate change. This approach takes into account the 'multiple, often overlapping and mutually reinforcing set of structural inequalities, power dynamics and social and cultural expectations that create the day-to-day lived reality for people in every community around the worldand tries to improve it'. 5 Applied to climate change, this approach recognizes that the gendered way women and men experience climate change, including their interactions with adaptation and mitigation measures, are determined by existing social, cultural, economic and political conditions. It is only through understanding the complex effects of these conditions and by working to address them that we can arrive at policies and mechanisms to ensure that the rights of women are appropriately protected in the context of climate change.

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Benefit sharing redd women

This chapter examines benefit-sharing under the REDD+ mechanism, focusing upon implications for w... more This chapter examines benefit-sharing under the REDD+ mechanism, focusing upon implications for women. In particular it will focus upon the competing motivations and constrains that are at play amongst the different networks and stakeholders involved (environmental, developmental, government, community and international institutions) and how these may manifest themselves in decisions about benefit sharing claims. It also examines the complex intertwining of property and participation rights women and the importance of ensuring gender equality in REDD+ instruments. 1

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Mapping the Integrity of Differential Obligations within the UNFCCC

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Emerging Powerful Southern Voices: Role of BASIC Nations in Shaping Climate Change Mitigation Commitments

International Environmental Law and the Global South, 2015

The legal nature of justice in REDD+

Faculty of Law, 2012

The compatibility of leasehold and freehold tenure arrangements with environmental offset and trading initiatives

Institute For Sustainable Resources, 2009

Protection of Refugees and Displaced Persons in the Asia Pacific Region

Faculty of Law, 2013

Pro bono partnerships in environmental law : enhancing outcomes for universities and CLCs

by Rowena Maguire and Judith McNamara

Faculty of Law Institute For Future Environments, 2014

Creating an enabling legal framework fro REDD+ investments in Kenya

Faculty of Law, Jun 1, 2014

Addressing vulnerability and human rights in disaster response mechanisms in Oceania

by Bridget Lewis and Rowena Maguire

Crime, Justice and Social Democracy Conference Proceedings, 2013

The Oceania region is an area particularly prone to natural disasters such as cyclones, tsunamis,... more The Oceania region is an area particularly prone to natural disasters such as cyclones, tsunamis, floods, droughts, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Many of the nations in the region are Small Island Developing States (SIDS), yet even within wealthy states such as Australia and New Zealand there are groups which are vulnerable to disaster. Vulnerability to natural disaster can be understood in human rights terms, as natural disasters threaten the enjoyment of a number of rights which are guaranteed under international law, including rights to health, housing, food, water and even the right to life itself. The impacts of climate change threaten to exacerbate these vulnerabilities, yet, despite the foreseeability of further natural disasters as a result of climate change, there currently exists no comprehensive international framework for disaster response offering practical and/or legally reliable mechanisms to assist at‐risk states and communities. This paper sets out to explore the human rights issues presented by natural disasters and examine the extent to which these issues can be addressed by disaster response frameworks at the international, regional and national levels.

Opportunities for forest finance under the International climate change regime

Faculty of Law, 2010

Pro Bono partnerships : community lawyering to promote environmental justice

by Rowena Maguire and Judith McNamara

Faculty of Law School of Law, Oct 12, 2013

A human rights-based approach to disaster displacement in the Asia-Pacific

by Rowena Maguire and Bridget Lewis

This paper analyzes the application of rights-based approaches to disaster displacement in the As... more This paper analyzes the application of rights-based approaches to disaster displacement in the Asia-Pacific region in order to assess whether the current framework is sufficient to protect the rights of internally displaced persons. It identifies that disaster-induced displacement is increasingly prevalent in the region and that economic and social conditions in many countries mean that the impact of displacement is often prolonged and more severe. The paper identifies the relevant human rights principles which apply in the context of disaster-induced displacement and examines their implementation in a number of soft-law instruments. While it identifies shortcomings in implementation and enforcement, the paper concludes that a rights-based approach could be enhanced by greater engagement with existing human rights treaties and greater implementation of soft-law principles, and that no new instrument is required.

Designing REDD+ to Be Just: Considerations for a Legally Binding Instrument

Asian Journal of International Law, 2013

Deforestation, REDD and international law

Routledge Handbook of International Environmental …, 2012

Foundations of International Climate Law: Objectives, principles and methods

Climate Change and the Law, 2013

Incorporating international environmental legal principles into future climate change instruments

Carbon and Climate Law Review, 2012

The influence of justice theories on international climate policies and measures

by Rowena Maguire and Bridget Lewis

Macquarie Journal of International and …, 2012

While the justice implications of climate change are well understood by the international climate... more While the justice implications of climate change are well understood by the international climate regime, solutions to meaningfully address climate injustice are still emerging. This article explores how a number of different theories of justice have influenced the development of international climate regime policies and measures. Such analysis is undertaken by examining the theories of remedial justice, environmental justice, energy justice, social justice and international justice. This article demonstrates how each of these theories has influenced the development of international climate policies or measures. No one theory of justice has the ability to respond to the multifaceted justice implications that arise as a result of climate change. It is argued that a variety of lenses of justice are useful when examining issues of injustice in the climate context. It is believed that articulating the justice implications of climate change by reference to theories of justice assists in clarifying the key issues giving rise to injustice. This article finds that while there has been some progress by the regime in recognising the injustices associated with climate change, such recognition is piecemeal and the implementation of many of the policies and measures discussed within this article needs to be either scaled up, or extended into more far-reaching policies and measures to overcome climate justice concerns. Overall it is suggested that climate justice concerns need to be clearly enunciated within key adaptation instruments so as to provide a legal and legitimate basis upon which to leverage action.

Global forest governance

The international regulation of sustainable forest management: doctrinal concepts, governing institutions and implementation

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