Gustavo Alanís-Ortega received his law degree from the “Universidad Iberoamericana” in Mexico City, where since 1994 he has taught the environmental law course as a part time professor at the law school. Alanís-Ortega also holds a master's degree in international law from the Washington College of Law, American University, Washington, DC. Since August 1993, he has been founder and Executive Director of the Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental (Mexican Environmental Law Center—CEMDA), a public interest environmental law firm based in Mexico City. He is also active as a columnist for El Universal, one of Mexico's most widely read and influential newspapers in Mexico; He is a member of the seventh cohort of the Leadership on Environment and Development Program (LEAD) of “El Colegio de México”.Alanís-Ortega is also a member of the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW); the Climate Change Advisory Committee in Mexico, and was a member of the former Environmental Law Advisory Group at the Department of Sustainable Development of the Organization of American States (OAS). Between April 2008 and January 2015, appointed by the Mexico City Legislative Assembly, he served on the Citizen Board of the Office of the Environmental and Zoning Prosecutor (Procuraduría Ambiental y del Ordenamiento Territorial—PAOT) and, from 2009 to 2016, he was part of the Public Participation Group of Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), which contributed to make the company more socially responsible.In December 2012, Alanís-Ortega was named to the NAFTA Commission on Environmental Cooperation (CEC) Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) for the third time, having previously served from 2001 to 2004 and 2008 to 2011. He has been the Chair of the JPAC in the years 2004, 2015 and 2018.
Key Areas of Expertise: Public interest environmental law and policy, trade and sustainable development, mediation and dispute resolution. Skills: Critical thinking, advocacy, strategy and problem solving.
Languages: Spanish and English (bilingual).