Dr Kerryn Brent

Dr Kerryn Brent

  • Teaching Interests

    Kerryn currently teaches climate change law, environmental law, planning law, law of the sea and tort law. Her previous teaching experience includes introduction to law and international law. 

  • Research Interests

    Kerryn researches in the fields of international and environmental law, examining how legal systems can facilitate effective responses to climate change. Her research primarily focuses on the governance of emerging climate intervention technologies. These are proposals to reduce global temperatures by drawing carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere or by reflecting a percentage of sunlight away from the Earth. Leading scientists and international organisations indicate that carbon dioxide removal and/or solar radiation management will be essential to keep global mean temperatures with the range of 1.5-2oC necessary to avoid catastrophic climate change impacts. However, these proposals present significant environmental, geopolitical and social risks that require comprehensive governance at international and domestic levels. Kerryn’s research considers how legal systems can meet these governance challenges and contribute to responsible climate intervention research and implementation.

     In 2017, Kerryn was awarded her doctorate on the topic of customary international law and the governance of solar radiation management from the University of Tasmania. Since then, her research has also focused on the governance of marine SRM and CDR technologies. Her research has been published in leading national and international journals, including Nature Climate Change and Climate Policy.

    Kerryn is a Deputy Director of the Australian Forum for Climate Intervention Governance . Kerryn is also co-chair of the Australia and New Zealand Society of International Law Oceans and International Environmental Interest Group .

    For more information on Kerryn's research, see her research profile:   

  • Publications

    Journal Articles

    Phillipa C McCormack, Jan McDonald & Kerryn Brent, ‘Governance of Land-Based Negative Emissions Technologies to Promote Biodiverity Conservation: Lessons from Australia' (Forthcoming, 2020) Climate Law.

    Jan McDonald, Jeffrey McGee, Kerryn Brent & Wil Burns, ‘Governing geoengineering research for the Great Barrier Reef' (2019) Climate Policy DOI: 10.1080/14693062.2019.1592742

    Kerryn Brent, Jan McDonald, Jeffrey McGee & Brendan Gogarty, ‘Carbon Dioxide Removal Geoengineering' (2018) 92(10) Australian Law Journal 830.

    Kerryn Brent, Jeffrey McGee, Jan McDonald & Eelco J Rohling, ‘International law poses problems for negative emissions research' (2018) 8(6) Nature Climate Change 451.

    Jeffrey McGee, Kerryn Brent & Wil Burns, ‘Geoengineering the oceans: an emerging frontier in international climate change governance' (2018) 10(1) Australian Journal of Maritime & Ocean Affairs 67.

    Kerryn Brent, ‘The Certain Activities Case: What Implications for the No-Harm Rule?' (2017) 20(1) Asia Pacific Journal of Environmental Law 28.

    Kerryn Brent, Jeffrey McGee & Jan McDonald, ‘The Governance of Geoengineering: An Emerging Challenge for International and Domestic Legal Systems?' (2016) 24(1) Journal of Law, Information & Science, 1.

    Kerryn Brent, Jeffrey McGee & Amy Maguire, ‘Does the ‘No-Harm Rule' have a Role in Preventing Transboundary Harm and Harm to the Global Atmospheric Commons from Geoengineering?' (2015) 5(1) Climate Law, 35.

    Hajar Benmazhar, Kerryn Brent, Haomiao Du, Viliamu Iese, Salif Kone, Nigel Moore, Cush Ngonzo Luwesi, Vivian Scott, Jordan Smith, Anita Talberg, Michael Thompson, Zhihong Zhuo, ‘Climate Engineering: Early Reflections on a Complex Conversation' (2015) 5(2-4) Climate Law, 295.

    Kerryn Brent & Jeffrey McGee, ‘The regulation of geoengineering- A gathering storm for international climate change policy?' (2012) 46(4) Air Quality and Climate Change, 22.


    Book Chapters
    Kerryn Brent, ‘Solar Radiation Management Geoengineering and Strict Liability for Ultra-hazardous Activities' in N Craik, C Jefferies, S Seck and T Stephens (eds) Global Environmental Change and Innovation in International Law (Cambridge University Press, 2018) 161.

    Kerryn Brent, Jeffrey McGee and Jan McDonald, ‘Negative emissions and Geoengineering technologies: An Emerging Challenge for International and Domestic Legal Systems' in Ana Alice de Carli, Elena Aydos and Pedro Curvello Saavedra Avzaradel (eds), O Estado Regulador no Cenario Ambiental (Editora Instituto Planeta Verde, 2017)

     

    Policy Papers and Reports

    Kerryn Brent, Wil Burns and Jeffrey McGee, Governance of Marine Geoengineering (2019, Centre of International Governance Innovation, Canada) <https://www.cigionline.org/publications/governance-marine-geoengineering>.

    Brent K, Gale F, Lovell H, McGee J, Peck P, 'Briefing Paper: Exploring Renewable Hydrogen for Tasmania' The University of Tasmania, December 2019.

    Andrew R Bowie, Julia Jabour, Thomas W Trull, Karina McLachlan, Philip W Boyd, Tony Press, Delphine Lannuzel, Kerryn Brent, Jeffrey McGee, Policy Analysis: Ocean Fertilisation, (2016) Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre.

     

    Book Reviews
    Kerryn Brent & Aylin Tofighi, ‘Climate Engineering and the Law, edited by Michael B. Gerrard and Tracy Hester, Cambridge University Press, 2018' (2019) 8(1) Transnational Environmental Law 197.

    Jeffrey McGee & Kerryn Brent, ‘On Environmental Governance: Sustainability, Efficiency and Equity by Oran R Young' (2014) 23(3) Review of European Comparative and International Environmental Law, 382.


    Opinions

    Kerryn Brent, Jeffrey McGee, Jan McDonald, Manon Simon, 'Putting the Great Barrer Reef Marine Cloud Brightening experiment into context' Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative (13 May 2020) <https://www.c2g2.net/putting-the-great-barrier-reef-marine-cloud-brightening-experiment-into-context/>

    Samuel C Andrew, Alistair Hobday, Bruce G Thom, Kerryn Brent and Richard Matear, ‘Australia needs to drive climate intervention - and do it with innovative leadership' The Mandarin, 19 June 2019

    Brendan Gogarty, Jeffrey McGee, Kerryn Brent, Jan McDonald, Marcus Haward, Matt A. King, ‘Correspondence: glacier geoengineering needs lawyers too', Nature, 8 August 2018 < https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05877-5>

    Kerryn Brent, Brendan Gogarty, Jan McDonald & Jeffrey McGee, ‘Geoengineering the Great Barrier Reef needs strong rules' The Conversation, 1 August 2018 < https://theconversation.com/geoengineering-the-great-barrier-reef-needs-strong-rules-100674>

    Kerryn Brent & Jeffrey McGee, ‘The sky is the legal limit for geoengineers' Newcastle Herald, 4 December 2013

    Kerryn Brent & Jeffrey McGee, ‘Dreams and schemes no magic climate fix' Newcastle Herald, 21 December 2012

    Kerryn Brent & Jeffrey McGee, ‘Engineering the climate: Is science fiction becoming reality?' Financial Review, 19 Dec 2012

     

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Entry last updated: Thursday, 3 Feb 2022