Professor Stephen Stec is an internationally recognized environmental lawyer and scholar whose work lies at the intersection of environmental governance, democracy, sustainable development, and international law. He currently leads the Environment and Democracy Working Group at the CEU Democracy Institute.

With over two decades of engagement in international environmental governance, Professor Stec has conducted fieldwork and advisory work across Europe, Central Asia, Africa, and Asia with institutions including UNEP, UNDP, OSCE, OECD, UNECE, the European Commission, EBRD, and others. He played a role in the negotiation of the Aarhus Convention and has contributed to environmental peace building efforts in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Sava River Basin.

Professor Stec is the author of Putting Rio Principle 10 into Action: An Implementation Guide, written on behalf of UNEP — a foundational work advancing access to information, public participation, and access to justice in environmental matters. His scholarship explores corporate accountability, environment and security, humanitarian law and sustainable development, and the rule of law in environmental governance.

He has held visiting appointments at leading institutions worldwide, including the University of Baltimore, University of Dundee, Osaka University, Ocean University of China, and the University of Toronto, among others. He holds a J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law and a B.A. from The Johns Hopkins University.

Professor Stec is a fellow of the Institute for East European Law and Russian Studies at Leiden University, a member of IUCN’s Commission on Environmental Law (CEL), and serves on the editorial board of the European Energy and Environmental Law Review. He is also a co-recipient of the Rule of Law Award.

Within GLGI, Professor Stec provides academic leadership and global governance insight, particularly in matters relating to international environmental law, climate justice, environmental democracy, and the rule of law.
For more information on Professor Stec’s work, please visit:
https://people.ceu.edu/stephen_stec