Prestigious Award for Alumna
Alumna of the Department of Zoology and Environment Sciences, University of Colombo, Lushanya Dayathilake, currently studying at the University of Oxford, has been awarded the Oxford University Press joint Prize for International Environmental Law. She followed the BSc Honours programme of Environment Sciences and graduated in the year 2019 from the Faculty of Science, University of Colombo. She is currently following the MSc programme in Environmental Change and Management.
This prize, sponsored by the Oxford University Press, is awarded to the student following the Environmental Change and Management MSc programme who receives the top mark in the International Environmental Law elective conducted by the School of Geography and Environment, University of Oxford.
Lushanya researched the impact of international trade law on climate change mitigation goals, focusing on the Canada – Renewable Energy (2013) lawsuit and the dispute involving the Keystone XL Pipeline in the USA. Lushanya’s essay was entitled 'The Impact of International Trade Law on the Management of Climate Change'. Her essay evaluated the validity of two general perceptions related to the conflict between international trade law and climate change mitigation policies: the general perception that a clash exists between World Trade Organization rules and subsidization of renewable energy, and the general understanding that investor protection provisions included in most trade and investment agreements suppress the freedom of states to implement climate measures given those measures affect the profitability of related foreign investment.