The CCJ is excited to welcome its new permanent Co-Director, Dr. Carol Liao, as the newest addition to its leadership team!
Dr. Carol Liao is an Associate Professor at the Peter A. Allard School of Law and Co-Director (Academic) of the Centre for Climate Justice at UBC. She is the Chair and Principal Co-Investigator of the Canada Climate Law Initiative, advancing director knowledge on the latest in climate science, climate risk disclosures, and fiduciary obligations. She is also the UBC Sauder Distinguished Fellow of the Peter P. Dhillon Centre for Business Ethics at the UBC Sauder School of Business. She is an internationally respected expert in corporate law, sustainability, and climate governance.
Dr. Liao is Principal Investigator of a SSHRC Insight Grant-funded empirical study on sustainable corporate governance and a UBC research excellence cluster member of the Future Minerals Initiative and Decision Insights for Business & Society. She has delivered over 175 invited talks around the world on sustainable business and has been featured over 100 times in TV, radio, and print news media on corporate governance, ESG, and equity issues. In 2024, she received the UBC Public Engagement Award. As Director of the Centre for Business Law from 2019-2023, she hosted over 125 professional and scholarly events on range of contemporary business topics and oversaw two experiential learning programs.
“I could not be more excited that Carol Liao will now be leading the Centre for Climate Justice’s academic work. Along with her brilliant scholarship, Carol brings a web of relationships relevant to our mission, from scientists to lawyers to community leaders. Animated by a burning sense of urgency that we must do more in the face of the accelerating climate crisis, she is also acutely aware of the perils of unjust environmental policy. I have no doubt that her presence will electrify the CCJ’s impact going forward.”
Dr. Liao is a member of the Solicitors’ Legal Opinions Committee of BC and serves on the Advisory Council for BCBusiness. At UBC, Dr. Liao is a member of the Steering Committee of the Climate Solutions Research Collective and the Advisory Board of The Phil Lind Initiative. She is the recipient of the BIV Influential Women in Business Award, BCBusiness Women of the Year Award (Equity and Inclusion Champion), Canada’s Clean 50 Award, and recognized as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women and Canada’s Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers.
Before joining UBC, Dr. Liao was a faculty member at the University of Victoria where she received the UVic Law Students’ Society First Year Class Teaching Award. Prior to academia, she was a senior lawyer in the New York offices of Shearman & Sterling LLP (now A&O Shearman). She also served at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and is a former judicial clerk of the BC Court of Appeal.
For Dr. Liao’s full bio, please click here.
