Rate My Professor Paul Govind

Paul Govind is a Senior Lecturer in Law at Macquarie Law School, Macquarie University, and Deputy Director of the Centre for Environmental Law. He earned a BA/LLB (Hons) from Macquarie University, an LLM/MPhil from the University of Sydney with a focus on distributive justice and funding for climate change adaptation, and a doctorate in environmental planning law from Macquarie University. His academic career centers on environmental law, where he explores the intersection between value change and the Anthropocene, the relationship between climate adaptation and extinction, dephysical property, and responsibility in environmental law. Govind's research specializations encompass environmental planning law, climate change law, biodiversity protection, land use planning's impact on First Nations' relationality with nature, and the ethical responsibilities of planning law in perpetuating settler colonialism. He has published extensively in leading journals, including 'Embracing relationality in planning law to help restructure relationships between people and land—a case from Australia' (2025, Journal of Environmental Law), 'Evaluating the ethical responsibility of environmental planning law in perpetuating settler colonialism using a transnational legal lens' (2025, Transnational Environmental Law), 'The nature of nature: why the promotion of plural values of nature could pose transition risks and influence nature-related financial disclosure' (2025, Review of European, Comparative and International Environmental Law), 'Using planning law to advance urban green infrastructure: the experience of urban heat in Sydney' (2025, Research Handbook on Climate Change and Infrastructure Law), and 'Climate litigation as a tool for change: Australian lessons in a global context' (2025, Strategic Human Rights Litigation in Australia).

Govind convenes and teaches units including LAWS5040 Environmental Planning Law and LAWS8051 Climate Change Law. His career includes prior roles as a policy consultant for the NSW Environmental Defenders Office (2012-2014) and consultant for the NSW Environmental Protection Authority (2020-2022). He serves as a board member of the National Environmental Law Association, member of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law Biodiversity Specialist Group, Regional Director (Pacific) for the Global Network for Human Rights and the Environment, and editorial board member of the Chinese Journal of Environmental Law. Govind provides expert consultancy to local councils, state agencies, and international bodies on land use planning, biodiversity offsetting, climate adaptation, and environmental compliance, contributing to practical applications of his research in policy and litigation contexts.