Maha Husain

Maha Husain is a legal researcher specialising in climate change law, environmental law, and public international law. She is the Team Lead of the Climate & Environment Initiative (CEI) and a Research Associate at the Research Society of International Law (RSIL), where her work explores legal solutions to climate change and environmental issues facing Pakistan and the world.

She has worked with UNDP Pakistan to promote access to environmental justice and strengthen complaint and remedy mechanisms for victims of environmental rights violations in Balochistan. Maha is among twenty young leaders from across Asia-Pacific and the United States selected for the 2024 Asia Foundation LeadNext: Ambassadors for a Global Future Fellowship cohort, where she developed her leadership skills and deepened her cross-cultural communication skills. Maha is currently serving as a Youth Empowerment in Climate Action Platform (YEACAP) Shakers Fellow 2024, where she is building her capacity on community mobilisation, resource mobilisation and team building to expand her climate advocacy.

Maha is a recipient of the Storytelling Initiative grant from the Leadership & Learning for Sustainability Lab at McGill University, where she received mentorship to produce a podcast centring the voices of those on the frontlines of socio-environmental crises. Through her research work, Maha has represented Pakistan at the 3rd Asia Pacific Environmental Human Rights Defenders (EHRD) Forum 2023, the 8th Advanced International Humanitarian Law South Asian Academics Platform (AISAAP) 2023, and the 2023 Transformations Conference. Maha has also co-organised RSIL’s Women in International Law Mentoring Programme to support female lawyers pursuing careers in international law in Pakistan.

Maha completed her law degree at the University of Cambridge (Downing College), where she earned the Senior Harris Scholarship. She has obtained professional certifications in climate change law, water resource management, and planetary health from the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL), Griffith University, and the Geneva Centre of Humanitarian Studies, respectively.