Energy

Leaders in Natural Resources, Energy and Environmental Law

An interconnected world involves interconnected problems. International issues of energy, resources, and the environment are complicated, and often touch on issues of business and trade. Through our research and teaching, we address issues that are global in scope, and local issues that are relevant across the globe.

Our research areas include the law relating to renewable energy, conventional and unconventional oil and gas, water, species and spaces, climate change, human rights, gender and equality, development, Indigenous law, international trade and investment, corporate law, taxation, ethics, governance, legal theory, and intellectual property.

Energy, Resources, and Business Law Leadership

Calgary is Canada’s energy capital, and a centre of entrepreneurship and enterprise. Projects and deals need sophisticated and intricate corporate law expertise; business enterprises and entrepreneurs need to draw upon the kind of big picture, forward-looking and innovative ideas that the faculty can provide. We educate professionals who will be leaders in an ever-changing business landscape.

The International Energy Lawyers Program

The energy sector is a primary linchpin of the global economy, and its impacts on security, development and the environment are profound.  The International Energy Lawyers Program (IELP) is an innovative, dual-degree collaboration between the University of Houston Law Center and the Faculty of Law at the University of Calgary. The program trains lawyers capable of handling complex global legal issues in the energy and affiliated sectors. In four years, students earn both a Canadian and an American law degree, and can apply to the Bar on both sides of the border.

Indigenous Peoples at the Intersection of Resources, Energy, and Environmental Law

Legal education in Canada requires sensitivity to the unique place of Indigenous Peoples in law and society. Issues of resources and the environment, in particular, need to be informed by the importance of reconciliation and the principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as well as the Calls to Action in the Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

We commit to research and teaching in areas relevant to Indigenous peoples, and to developing innovative collaborations between Indigenous communities and leaders in our community.

Our Graduate Program

Our graduate program focuses within our areas of Natural Resources, Energy, and Environmental Law. We will continue to recruit strong students from Canada and abroad, while promoting the breadth of our research areas, and the possibilities for a diversity of topics for study. We will also continue to explore options for distance delivery and online programming.

We will institute a doctoral program in NREEL that is reflective of the faculty's place within the University and within Canada. Doctoral education will allow us to increase our status as a research institution and the potential for impact in legal education.