Chris Wold

Biography

Chris Wold came to Lewis & Clark Law School in 1994 to add an international environmental component to the school’s environmental law program. Chris founded the law school’s International Environmental Law Project, which provides students with practical experience in international environmental law. He now focuses on teaching international and international environmental law courses.

In addition, he has been the legal advisor to the Convention on Migratory Species at the convention’s 2014, 2017, and 2010 meetings. He has represented Luxembourg and the United Kingdom at meetings of the International Whaling Commission. He has also worked with the Ministries of Environment in Bulgaria and Ukraine to review their environmental laws for consistency with their international obligations. In Mauritius, he developed legislation to protect environmentally sensitive areas.

He was appointed to the National Advisory Committee to provide the Environmental Protection Agency with advice on environmental cooperation among the three North American governments. He continues to provide legal and technical advice to governments, nongovernmental organizations, and international institutions on issues concerning the World Trade Organization, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, the Convention on Migratory Species, and the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, among other treaties and international institutions. He is the author of numerous articles exploring the relationship of trade and environmental law, climate change, fisheries management, and other issues.

He won the Bernard F. O’Rourke Award in 1990 for outstanding student writing on a natural resources topic. Before coming to the law school, he was a staff attorney with the Center for International Environmental Law and the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide-U.S. (E-LAW). He also taught at American University’s Washington College of Law, Washington, D.C., as an adjunct professor. When not in his office, he is birdwatching, cycling, or hiking.

Specialty Areas and Course Descriptions

Academic Credentials

• BA cum laude 1986 St. Olaf College
• JD 1990 Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College

Bibliography

Separately Published Works

• Trade and the Environment, Carolina Academic Press (3rd ed. 2023) (co-authored with Sanford Gaines).
• Climate Change and the Law, Lexis/Nexis Publishing (2009) (co-authored with David Hunter and Melissa Powers).
• Climate Change and the Law, Teacher’s Manual, Lexis/Nexis Publishing (2009) (co-authored with David Hunter and Melissa Powers).
• Trade and the Environment, Carolina Academic Press (2005) (co-authored with Sanford Gaines and Greg Block).
• Princ’pios de Direito Ambiental: Na Dimensão International e Comparada (2003) (co-authored with Sampaio & Nardy).
• The Biodiversity Convention and Existing International Agreements: Opportunities for Synergy (Humane Society of the United States, June 1995).
• CITES and the Precautionary Principle: The Burden to Show That a Use Is Sustainable (Humane Society of the United States, Nov. 1994).

Works Published As Part of a Collection

• The Convention on Migratory Species at 45: A “Sleeping” Treaty Awakes, 34 N.Y.U. Envtl. L. Rev. __ (2026)
• 40 Years after the Moratorium on Commercial Whaling: Assessing the Competence of the International Whaling Commission to Confront Critical Threats to Cetaceans, 36 Pace Int’l L. Rev. 271 (2024).
• Countermeasures and Cost Recovery against Non-complying Flag States to Prevent, Deter, and Eliminate IUU Fishing, 53 Envtl. L. 383 (2023).
• Slavery at Sea: Forced Labor, Human Rights Abuses, and the Need for the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission to Establish Labor Standards for Fishing Crew, 39 Wisc. Int’l L. J. 485 (2022).
•  Incentivising Change to Beneficial Ownership and Open Registers—Holding Flag States Responsible for their Fleets and Costs of Illegal Fishing, 23 Fish & Fisheries 1240 (2022) (with Ford, Currie, and Wilcox), https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.12677.
• Combatting IUU Fishing and Improving the Long-Term Conservation of Fish Stocks: Increasing Transparency in Regional Fisheries Management Organizations, 44 Fordham Int’l L. J. 967 (2021).
• Japan’s Resumption of Commercial Whaling and Its Duty to Cooperate with the International Whaling Commission, 35 J. Envtl. L & Litigation 87 (2020).
• Shining a Light on High Seas Transhipment: The Need to Strengthen Observer Reporting of Transhipments in the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, 26 Hastings Envtl. L. J. 183 (2020) (with Cook).
• The Impracticability Exemption to the WCPFC’s Prohibition on Transhipment on the High Seas, 49 Envtl. L. 131 (2019).
• Bringing the European Eel Back from the Brink: The Need for a New Agreement under the Convention on Migratory Species, 35 Pace Envtl. L. Rev. 169 (2018).
• Integrating Indigenous Rights into Multilateral Environmental Agreements: The International Whaling Commission and Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling, 40 Boston College Int’l & Comp. L. Rev. 63 (2017).
• Bringing Pacific Bluefin Tuna Back from The Brink: Ensuring the Submission of Operational Data to The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, 6 Mich. J. Envtl. & Admin. L. 239 (2016) (Takahashi, Park, Fernandes, and Butler).
• The Legal Effect of Greenland’s Unilateral Aboriginal Subsistence Whale Hunt, 26 Am. U. Int’l L. Rev. 561 (2015) (co-authored with Michael Kearney).
• Bringing Southern Bluefin Tuna Back from the Brink: Enhancing Understanding of the Scientific Process in the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, 42 B.C. Envtl. Affairs L. Rev. 347 (2015) (co-authored with Emi Kondo and Erika Hamilton).
• Climate Change, International Trade, and Response Measures: Options for Mitigating Climate Change without Harming Developing Country Economies, 46 Geo. Wash. Int’l L. Rev. 531 (2014) (co-authored with Don Gourlie and Amelia Schlusser).
• Addressing the Underreporting of Methane Emissions from Natural Gas Production and Thawing Permafrost, 23 Rev. of Eur. Comp. & Int’l Envtl. L. 246 (2014) (with Saver and Johnston).
• Increasing Mitigation Ambition: Establishing “Mitigation Reference Points” to Trigger Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reductions, 45 Environmental L. 225 (2014) (with Schlusser).
• Climate Change, Presidential Power, and Leadership: “We Can’t Wait”, 45 Case Western J. of Int’l L.303 (2013).
• The Durban Package and the Goals of Pacific Small Island Developing States, ASIL Insights, Jan. 6, 2012 (vol. 16, issue 1).
• Leveraging Climate Change Benefits through the World Trade Organization: Are Fossil Fuel Subsidies Actionable?, 43 Georgetown J. Int’l L. 635 (2012) (co-authored with Grant Wilson and Sara Foroshani).
• Taking Stock: Trade’s Environmental Scorecard After Twenty Years of “Trade and Environment”, 45 Wake For. L. Rev. 319 (2010).
• World Heritage Species: A New Legal Approach to Conservation, 20 Georgetown International Environmental Law Review 337 (2008).
• Evaluating the NAFTA and Commission for Environmental Cooperation: Lessons for Integrating Trade and Environment in Free Trade Agreements, 28 St. Louis University Public Law Review 201 (2008).
• The Inadequacy of the Citizen Submission Process of Articles 14 & 15 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation, 26 Loyola of Los Angeles Int’l & Comp. L. Rev. 415 (2004)(co-authored with Lucus Ritchie, Deborah Scott and Matthew Clark).
• Trade in Endangered Species, 14 Yearbook of Int’l Envtl. Law 2003, 375 (2005).
• Trade in Endangered Species, 13 Yearbook of Int’l Envtl. Law 2002, 389 (2004).
• Implementation of Reservations Law in International Environmental Treaties: The Cases of Cuba and Iceland, 14 Col. J. Int’l L. & Pol’y 53 (2003).
• The Status of Sea Turtles under International Environmental Law and International Environmental Agreements, 5 J. Int’l Wildlife L. & Pol’y 11 (2002).
• Legal Assessment of Compatibility Issues between the Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW) to the Cartagena Convention and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), in UNEP (DEC)/ CAR IG 17/INF.5, at pages 8-27 (February 2000).
• Multilateral Environmental Agreements and the GATT: Conflict and Resolution?, in Comparative Asian Environmental Law Anthology 529 (Bolla & McDorman eds. 1999)(reprinting 26 Envtl. L. 841 (1996)).
• The Futility, Utility, and Future of the Convention on Biological Diversity, 9 Colorado Journal of International Environmental Law & Policy 1 (1997).
• The Status of Sea Turtles under International Environmental Law and International Environmental Agreements in Sea Turtles: A Shared Resource in Central America (1997).
• Draft Agreement for the Conservation of Sea Turtles on the Caribbean Coast of Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua (Annotated) in Sea Turtles: A Shared Resource in Central America (1997) (co-authored with Thomas T. Ankersen, Lizbeth Espinoza, Anne Meylan, Peter Meylan, Mario Boza, and Lucinda Taft).
• The Relation of CITES to GATT, in Multilateral Environmental Agreements and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (eds. Housman, Goldberg, Van Dyke and Zaelke, 1995).
• Biodiversity Prospecting: The Rules of the Game, BioScience (June 1994) (co-authored with David Downes).
• Discovering the Limits of Democracy in International Law, 12 The Advocate 7 (Winter 1992).
• An Earth Parliament for Indigenous Peoples: Investigating Alternative World Governance, 4 Colorado Journal of International Environmental Law & Policy 197 (1992).
• Remembering Elephants at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, 9 Endangered Species Update 6 (1992).
• Promoting Sustainable Development and Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe: The Role of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 7 American University Journal of International Law & Policy 559 (1992) (co-authored with Durwood Zaelke).
• Establishing an Independent Administrative Review Tribunal at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development: A Model for Improving Multilateral Development Bank Decisionmaking, 2 Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum 59 (1992) (co-authored with Durwood Zaelke).
• NOAA Civil Penalty Policy: Time for a Change, 18 Coastal Management 213 (1990).