Elena I Athwal

So happy to be starting a new position as Research Fellow, UNESCO Chair on Environmental Law & Sustainable Development! Looking forward to harnessing research, teaching, knowledge exchange & intl cooperation on Environmental Law as a tool for advancing UN SDGs in the MENA region.

On Tuesday in Abidjan I sat in the audience for the ‘Spotlight – Qatar’ session of the Qatar Africa Business Forum (QABF) and listened to H.E. Mansoor Al-Khater, Chief Executive Officer of the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) Authority, make the case for Qatar to Africa. It was the most thoughtful account of our country’s intentions I have heard on a public stage this year. His Excellency began by refusing the easy role. ‘We don’t want Qatar to be just a capital allocator. What we need to build is a long‑term partnership with Africa.’ The test, he said, is not how many projects are announced but whether the right partners are chosen and the right capability built, so that an announcement becomes ‘an executable asset, an operating asset’. He then set out what Qatar itself had needed to get right, and offered it to the room as a benchmark rather than a template, because ‘Africa is not one country’: a clear vision and strategy carried through as an executive programme; infrastructure built ahead of demand; local champions allowed to grow into international companies; and ‘regulation stability, predictability and transparency’. He spoke very eloquently of patient capital, and of Islamic finance as an untapped source of it for African infrastructure. And he closed with an image I will keep. Abidjan, he said, is the Switzerland of West Africa; Doha is the Switzerland of the Middle East; and there is Switzerland itself. ‘We need to create that triangle of connection, where the capital will flow and the confidence will come.’ I heard it as the founder of a QFC firm. ICELIS Global has been licensed in the Centre since its first year, and our work from Nairobi to Dakar to Abidjan is, in a small way, that triangle in practice: helping companies on both sides meet the governance, the due diligence and the reporting that long‑term capital expects. To hear the Centre’s own Chief Executive say it that clearly, on African soil, was a proud moment, and I am grateful to His Excellency for his gracious welcome. My thanks go first to H.E. Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and to H.E. Sheikh Fahad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Director of the Office of the Chairperson, under whose patronage and care the QABF keeps bringing the two sides of this story together, with Qatar Museums and the Qatar Investment Authority as official partner. To Fatma Ali Al-Khater and to Maryam Ramadan, thank you for two days handled with such grace, and such a warm welcome. To Hamad AlMaadeed of Qatar Museums, thank you for the kind company at the opening. And on stage, thank you to Elkhair Balla of Invest Qatar, and to Nasser Al Misnad of Beema and Khalid Al-Kubaisi of Malomatia, for such an interesting and excellent panel. Photos: Qatar Financial Centre, and my own. @athwal_i @icelisglobal #QABF2026 #QatarFinancialCentre #QFC #QatarAfrica #Abidjan #ICELISGlobal #InvestQatar #GulfAfrica #Qatar #CôteDIvoire #ElenaAthwal

Noura Al Zoubi @SDGsUnlocked decided the @UN United Nations Sustainable Development Goals needed a better introduction. Now, she has built one. On Saturday 1 August, SDGs Unlocked begins: 1 Season, 9 Episodes, 17 Goals, travelling from Morocco to Rwanda, Colombia to the Gulf. Free to everyone, everywhere. Noura simply wrote to the people she most admired around the world 🌏 and they said yes! 🌟 Season One brings together Ms. Elizabeth Mrema @MarumaMrema United Nations Assistant Secretary-General & Deputy Executive Director of UN Environment Programme @UNEP; a powerful Academic Advisory Board, including Professor Damilola S. Olawuyi, SAN, FCIArb @dsolawuyi , UNESCO Chair on Environmental Law and Sustainable Development @UNESCOChairHBKU at @HBKU & Chair of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights @WGBizHRs , and Dr. Sikirat Iyabo Tinubu-Karch, MD MHA, former CEO of Sidra Medicine @SidraMedicine . Noura has invited international experts, such as Professor David R. Boyd @EnvirOptimist , former UN Special Rapporteur on human rights & the environment @UN_SPExperts ; Professor Patricia Kameri-Mbote @PatriciaMbote1 , Director of UNEP's Law Division; as well as His Excellency Shaikh Fawaz Al-Sabah , former Assistant Undersecretary for the Government of Kuwait; Professor Markus Gehring @mwgehring from the University of Cambridge @Cambridge_Uni @cisl_cambridge - both esteemed Board Members of ICELIS Global @icelisglobal ; Mr. Ahmed Essa Alsulaiti @A7med_alsuli6i , President of the International Law Association GCC Branch @ILAGulfCCouncil ; and rising leaders from across the #GCC, #Africa, #LatinAmerica and the #AsiaPacific, such as Ms. Mashael M. Al Sulaiti @MALSULAITI , of Mashael Al Sulaiti Law Firm @maslaw, and so many more! And in every single episode, ten to fifteen minutes belong solely to a Youth Changemaker, interviewed by Noura, peer to peer. Some of our powerhouse Youth Changemakers are Abdulrahim Abuissa, CEO & Founder of Abuissa Sports & ABUISSA HOLDING; Rakan Bin Bader Al Otaibi and Lama Alkadi from NAHJ association | جمعية نهج, and so many more! Three small things, if you will: → Follow Noura 👏 lnkd.in/dt_svbWU → Follow the series 👏 lnkd.in/eZJ3hvxg → Register, free 👏 sdgsunlocked.org/register Learn. Connect. Change the World. #SDGsUnlocked #SDGs #GlobalGoals @athwal_i #YouthLeadership #SustainableDevelopment #InternationalLaw #ESG #USA #GCC #Qatar #Oman #Kuwait #Bahrain #SaudiArabia #UAE #AsiaPacific #Africa #Europe #LatinAmerica #NorthAmerica #MiddleEast #Youth #ICELISGlobal #ElenaAthwal

🪴 🌳 🌿 One down one to go !!! 🌻 I am pleased to share that I have advanced to candidacy in the Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) programme at the College of Law, Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) @hbku_cl , having successfully completed the preliminary defence of my doctoral research. This moment closes a circle that began here: from my J.D. at Hamad Bin Khalifa University @HBKU , to Harvard Law School @Harvard_Law , and back to HBKU to pursue the S.J.D. I am grateful to have come full circle at the institution that first shaped me. Working at the intersection of energy law, environmental law and sustainable development, my dissertation examines how the law can govern distributed energy resources effectively, inclusively and sustainably as the energy transition accelerates. It develops a governance framework grounded in participation, accountability, inclusion, empowerment and legal certainty, and considers how sound regulatory design can advance equitable energy access, strengthen investor confidence, and support the sustainability ambitions reflected in national visions throughout the Global South. I am grateful to my supervisor and mentor, Professor Damilola S. Olawuyi, SAN, FCIArb @dsolawuyi @UNESCOChairHBKU , for his generous and exacting guidance. His scholarship has helped define this field, and his mentorship has shaped not only this dissertation but the scholar I aspire to become. I am grateful to the members of my examination committee, my esteemed chair, Dr. George Mikros, and honourable members, Dr. Khalid M. Al Kuwari, Dr. Kehinde Olaoye, and Dr. Ilias Bantekas, as well as Dean Susan Karamanian, for their thoughtful engagement. I owe a particular debt to Professor Mark Wu at Harvard Law School, whose supervision of my LL.M. thesis, awarded with honours, laid the intellectual foundations for the work I defend today. To pass the preliminary defence with no required revisions 🙂 is a privilege I do not take lightly, and one that marks a beginning rather than an end. I look forward to developing the comparative and reform chapters in the time ahead, with particular attention to the Gulf's leadership in the energy transition. This milestone is one I carry back to ICELIS Global @icelisglobal , which I am privileged to lead as Founder and Chief Executive Officer, and where this research speaks directly to our mission of advancing international law, energy governance and sustainable development across the region, and to my dear colleagues at the International Law Association GCC Branch @ILAGulfCCouncil , who have been endlessly supportive. #EnergyLaw #EnvironmentalLaw #SustainableDevelopment #EnergyTransition #RuleOfLaw #SJD #HBKU #QatarNationalVision2030 #ElenaAthwal #PhD #Candidacy #Qatar @athwal_i – at Doha, Qatar

🌟 I am honoured to share that I have been elected to the Board of Directors of the Produced Water Society @_producedwater Since its founding in 1990, the Society has been dedicated to promoting sustainable and environmentally responsible produced water management by educating and empowering water professionals across the global energy industry. It is a privilege to join this community, and I am grateful to President Steve Coffee @_stevecoffee and my fellow board members for their warm welcome and the confidence they have placed in me. The intersection of water stewardship, energy, and governance has never been more consequential. I look forward to contributing to the Society’s mission and to the conversations ahead. ICELIS Global @icelisglobal @UNESCOChairHBKU #ProducedWater #WaterStewardship #EnergyTransition #Governance #BoardAppointment Rajendra Ghimire Hani Khalifa Saada Al-Shukaili Michael Grossman Joe de Almeida Bobbi Jo Crain Rob Bruant Whitney Dobson John Durand Tom McCormick, PE Lisa Henthorne Kevin Hinshaw, P.E. Justin Maxwell Ben Warden Chip Westaby Ivan Morales, MBA Rick McCurdy Douglas Park Laura Capper – at Doha, Qatar

Full Qatar roadmap: icelisglobal.com/articles/qa… #ISSB #Qatar

Quietly, over 2025, Qatar became the first GCC jurisdiction to formally adopt the ISSB Standards into its prudential framework. The implications run further than most boards have priced in. → The Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (@QFCRA)'s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Rules 2025 bring Category A entities into @IFRSFoundation S1 and S2 disclosure from FY2026 — first submissions due 2027. → The Qatar Central Bank (@QCBQATAR) 's Sustainable Finance Framework (Circular No. 2025/0001546, April 2025) sets parallel expectations across all banks operating in the State. → The Qatar Financial Markets Authority (@Qatari_QFMA) 's Governance Code (Decision No. 5 of 2025) requires ESG disclosure for Qatar Stock Exchange Main Market companies on a full-compliance basis. Across the region, the direction of travel is consistent — CBUAE Climate Risk Principles, DFM 2025 ESG Guide, ADX disclosure guidance, and the Saudi CMA's Sustainable Debt Guidelines (in force May 2025). Three things I keep seeing in our work at @ICELISGlobal, advising entities through this transition: 1. Data architecture is the binding constraint. Disclosure quality is downstream of data quality. 2. Sector materiality matters more than entity size. @SASB industry topics (to which IFRS S1 requires reference) are the right starting point. 3. Governance is the differentiator. The boards moving fastest built sustainability competence; they did not delegate it. The window for orderly adoption is narrowing. For Qatari boards, the question is no longer whether to align, it is how credibly, and how quickly the data foundations can be built. 🌏 What is your organisation's biggest bottleneck on this — data, governance, or something else? #Qatar #ESG #BoardGovernance

A genuinely rewarding evening in Geneva earlier this week for the launch of Trade Restrictions, Sustainable Development and the Law (@routledgebooks, 2026). As one of the contributing authors — Chapter 3, The Role of Regional Institutions in Times of Trade Restrictions — it was a particular pleasure to see the book's questions tested in live discussion. What regional institutions do when the multilateral system strains is not an abstract question, and Wednesday's exchange made that plain. These are also questions close to the work of @icelisglobal , which I have the privilege of leading as Chief Executive Officer. Thank you to @_CTEI and the @GVAGrad Institute for hosting; to HE Dr Hend Al Muftah @QatarPR_Geneva for the keynote; and to my co-editors and fellow contributors. Onwards. #ILAGCC #TradeLaw #InternationalLaw #SustainableDevelopment #ICELISGlobal @athwal_i

📚 Read the full ESG Insight: lnkd.in/g_VXUAz3 #ICELISGlobal #Qatar #BoardGovernance #ESG #IFRS #GCC #ElenaAthwal

Mediation in the cause of human #freedom asks for #stamina, #judgment and the quiet application of international #law over years rather than months. The James W. Foley Legacy Foundation has chosen well. Warmest congratulations to HE Dr Al-Khulaifi @Dr_Al_Khulaifi #ilagcc #internationallawassociation #ila #qatar #usa #mofa @A7med_alsuli6i @ILAGulfCCouncil @JamesFoleyFund @QatarUniversity @BerkeleyLaw @MofaQatar_EN

Pleased to share that my chapter, Distributed Energy Storage, is now published in Sustainable Distributed Energy Resources: Law and Policy (@OUPLaw Oxford University Press, 2026) — the thirteenth volume in the IBA Academic Advisory Group @AAGSEERIL / @OUPAcademic collaboration. academic.oup.com/book/62495/… Edited by @dsolawuyi, Íñigo del Guayo, Louis de Fontenelle @LdeFontenelle, Milton Montoya @f2001co and José Juan González Márquez. The chapter develops the line I first set out at the SEERIL AAG conference in #Pau in May 2025 — distributed storage as both technical asset and governance problem, with particular attention to MENA hydrogen and clean-fuel architecture. Grateful to my editors and to the SEERIL community. #EnergyLaw #SEERIL #EnergyTransition @icelisglobal @hbku_cl

🎤 Moderator: Susan L. Karamanian, Dean, College of Law, HBKU @hbku_cl @HBKU 👥 Speakers: • Dr. Nilufer Oral, Director of the Centre for International Law, National University of Singapore; Member International Law Commission @NUSingapore @niluferoral • Mr. Ucheora Onwuamaegbu, PhD, Special Legal Consultant, ArentFox Schiff @ArentFoxSchiff • Dr. Damilola S. Olawuyi, SAN, FCIArb (KC), Professor and UNESCO Chairholder on Environmental Law and Sustainable Development, College of Law @dsolawuyi @UNESCOChairHBKU • Dr. Christopher Ward SC, Three Verulam Buildings Barristers @DrCWardSC • Dr. Dr.Noora Al Shamlan, Associate Professor, University of Bahrain @uobedubh @N_AlShamlan • Mr. Ahmed Essa Alsulaiti, President, International Law Association - GCC Branch and Lecturer, College of Law, HBKU @A7med_alsuli6i @ilagcc @ILA_official 🔗 Register Here: lnkd.in/dsT6RB-p