Former Chief Justice candidate Prof. Patricia Kameri Mbote has been appointed Director of the Law Division at the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).
The Law scholar is a Professor of Law at the University of Nairobi School of Law. She has served as a Consultant to the the joint Justice and Legal Affairs Committee of the National Assembly. In this position, she has continued to advise the Committee on the way forward with the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
In 2006, retired President Mwai Kibaki appointed her to the Committee of Eminent Persons to advise the government on review of the constitution.
Prof. Mbote has a Doctoral Degree from Stanford University, specializing in property rights and environmental law. She had earlier studied law at the University of Nairobi, before joining University of Warwick, England for her Master’s Degree.
In her new role as the head of UNEP’s law division, she will be the focal legal expert in guiding the international community develop environmental law. She will also support States in creating and executing legal, institutional and policy measures in response to major environmental challenges.
She will also facilitate cooperation and coordination among multilateral environmental agreements.
Prof. Mbote has extensively published research work on gender, environment and natural resources as well as property. She is the founding research director of the International Environmental Law Research Centre.