Miss Meijun Chen
PhD Student

Research area(s)

International Law,International Environmental Law, International Humanitarian Law (IHL) , Transitional Justice, State Responsibility, Intergenerational justice

Research Interests

My research interests lie at the intersection of international law, international environmental law, and international disaster law, with a particular focus on how to design and introduce an innovative and systematic international funding mechanism to address significant environmental harm occurring under 'extreme conditions,' such as armed conflict, large-scale disasters, and governance crises.

More specifically, my research critically examines the limitations of existing international environmental compensation and funding mechanisms, such as the International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds and the Global Environment Facility, when responding to extreme conditions. These limitations include, inter alia, a lack of timeliness and delays in fund allocation, systemic fragmentation, the neglect of non-pecuniary harm, and fairness deficits in allocation mechanisms. Building on this critique, my research seeks to demonstrate the necessity and feasibility of introducing a comprehensive new mechanism, namely the 'International Extreme Condition Environmental Recovery Fund' (IEER Fund).

My research interests encompass a full analytical trajectory, ranging from the conceptual clarification of key notions such as 'extreme conditions, 'environmental harm,' and 'funding mechanisms,' to the evaluation of existing legal frameworks and institutional practices, and ultimately to the institutional design of a new mechanism. This includes considerations of funding sources, governance structures, allocation logic, and tailored responses to specific types of harm.