Emma Carmody

Partners /Australian Partners /

Emma Carmody

Response: max. 250 words (you may provide an organisational web-link for further information)
I am a water law and policy expert with 15 years’ experience advising in Australia and internationally. In 2019 I was listed in Best Lawyers in Australia in the Planning and Environmental Law category.

My experience extends to advising on all aspects of water law, including catchment and basin-scale management, water rights, compliance and enforcement, floodplain harvesting, metering and measurement, cultural flows, irrigation modernisation projects and treaty implementation. This is complemented by extensive experience devising policy and law reform recommendations in relation to various aspects of water management and governance.

I have strong project design and management skills, including in relation to the coordination of teams experts from different domains (ecology, hydrology, geospatial, economics etc.). Working with experts has also allowed me to develop a lay understanding of intersecting disciplines, which has proven useful when developing legal and policy recommendations.

I currently act as legal advisor to the Secretariat of (and 170 Contracting Parties to) the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, and am on the Board of the Alliance for Water Stewardship International. Both roles have enabled me to develop a good understanding of water diplomacy in different contexts and regions, and to work effectively in cross-cultural settings.

I regularly guest lecture in water law, and am the author of several peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters on various aspects of water law and policy.

I am fluent in written and spoken French.

Website

None

Organisational Capability

  • Response: max. 250 words (you may provide an organisational web-link for further information)
    I am a water law and policy expert with 15 years' experience advising in Australia and internationally. In 2019 I was listed in Best Lawyers in Australia in the Planning and Environmental Law category.

    My experience extends to advising on all aspects of water law, including catchment and basin-scale management, water rights, compliance and enforcement, floodplain harvesting, metering and measurement, cultural flows, irrigation modernisation projects and treaty implementation. This is complemented by extensive experience devising policy and law reform recommendations in relation to various aspects of water management and governance.

    I have strong project design and management skills, including in relation to the coordination of teams experts from different domains (ecology, hydrology, geospatial, economics etc.). Working with experts has also allowed me to develop a lay understanding of intersecting disciplines, which has proven useful when developing legal and policy recommendations.

    I currently act as legal advisor to the Secretariat of (and 170 Contracting Parties to) the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, and am on the Board of the Alliance for Water Stewardship International. Both roles have enabled me to develop a good understanding of water diplomacy in different contexts and regions, and to work effectively in cross-cultural settings.

    I regularly guest lecture in water law, and am the author of several peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters on various aspects of water law and policy.

    I am fluent in written and spoken French.

Projects

  • Compliance and enforcement
    Leading detailed investigations into breaches of water laws
  • Water governance
    Analysis of governance arrangements in multiple jurisdictions and recommendations for reform
  • Environmental water
    Analysis of laws governing management and protection of environmental water and recommendations for reform
  • International law and diplomacy
    Advising Secretariat of Ramsar Convention and 170 Contracting Parties to Ramsar Convention during COPs, Standing Committee meetings and inter sessionally about various aspects of the treaty as well as international law more generally
  • Legislative analysis and design
    Designing amendments to water laws and policies including in relation to compliance, water rights, irrigation modernisation, metering, transparency
  • Advising on water rights across multiple jurisdictions