Professor Mirjana Drenovak-Ivanović – Professional and Expert Profile
Professor Mirjana Drenovak-Ivanović is a Full Professor of Environmental Law and Climate Change Law at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law and holder of the Jean Monnet Chair in European Environmental and Climate Change Law (JMC EECL). She has more than 20 years of teaching, research and professional experience covering EU environmental law, climate change law, access to justice in environmental matters, human rights and the environment, environmental administrative law, climate governance and sustainability law.
Within JMC EECL, she is responsible for the development and modernisation of curricula at bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels, the preparation of teaching and research materials, the organisation of seminars, round tables and conferences, and the connection of academic teaching with legal practice and professional training for judges, lawyers and other professional groups. From 2019 to 2022, she held the preceding Jean Monnet Chair in European Environmental Law. The two consecutive Jean Monnet programmes have enabled the continuous advancement of teaching in European environmental and climate change law and its long-term integration into the Faculty’s study programmes.
She is the founder and Head of the Environmental Law Clinic, which has operated at the Faculty since 2015 with the longstanding support of the OSCE Mission to Serbia. The Clinic connects legal education with the analysis of concrete legal problems, scenario-based exercises, legal research and cooperation with institutions, civil society organisations and legal practitioners. JMC EECL also provided the framework for establishing the E-L-C Hub (Environmental Law Clinic Hub), a platform connecting Environmental Law Clinic alumni, master’s and doctoral students, researchers and legal professionals working in environmental protection and climate change law.
From 2015 to 2021, she participated in Serbia’s accession negotiations with the European Union as the Negotiator responsible for environment and climate change, covered by Chapter 27 and Cluster 4 – Green Agenda and Sustainable Connectivity. She led the preparation of Serbia’s Negotiating Position for Chapter 27 and coordinated the work of more than 150 experts from public authorities, regulatory bodies, local governments, civil society and the private sector. This work included the alignment of national law with the EU environmental and climate acquis, Directive-Specific Implementation Plans, the Action Plan for Administrative Capacity Development, the Multi-Annual Investment and Financing Plan for the water and waste sectors, and technical justifications concerning nature protection.
Her professional experience includes leading and participating in projects dedicated to the development of environmental legislation and climate change law. As Team Leader of UNDP-supported expert assignments, she worked on draft legislation concerning environmental impact assessment and environmental protection, and on analyses of the implications of the European Green Deal and the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans for Serbia’s public policies and legal system. Her experience also encompasses projects concerning the Aarhus Convention, environmental liability, waste management, institutional development and the approximation of national law with European Union law.
Within the EU-supported technical assistance project Technical Assistance for Improvement of Climate Change Policy Framework, which contributes to the development of Serbia’s climate policies, legislation and institutional capacities, she is engaged as Senior Legal Expert for the development of climate change legislation. The project is implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and supports the further alignment of the national legal framework with the Green Agenda, the EU climate acquis and the Fit for 55 legislative package.
As Senior Legal Expert, she is currently working on the preparation of a new Draft Law on Climate Change, its Explanatory Memorandum and the Expert Background Paper supporting the preparation of the Draft Law. Her work includes assessing the alignment of the existing national legal framework with recent developments in European Union law, identifying regulatory gaps and developing legal solutions concerning climate neutrality, long-term and integrated climate planning, climate change mitigation and adaptation, just transition, climate finance, institutional coordination and the preparation of the national legal framework for further alignment with the EU Emissions Trading System. Work on the Draft Law is continuing through expert consultations with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and other relevant institutions.
At the international level, she works as a Council of Europe expert on human rights and a sustainable environment and as an international UNDP consultant on environmental justice, judicial capacity development and legal mechanisms for environmental damage compensation. She has developed methodologies, training modules and materials for judges and other legal professionals, including assignments in Serbia, Georgia and Viet Nam. Since 2017, she has contributed to the development and delivery of environmental and EU law and human rights law training for the Judicial Academy of Serbia and has also served as a tutor on the Council of Europe HELP course on Human Rights and the Environment.
As Co-Lead of the YESI International Fellows project implemented by the University of Belgrade and the University of York, she contributed to the development of clinical legal education, Problem-Based Learning and interdisciplinary approaches to sustainability law. Her guest lectures and research cooperation with the Universities of Oslo and York address corporate sustainability, business accountability, climate litigation, access to climate justice and the impact of European sustainability law on countries seeking membership of the European Union. As a guest lecturer, she has also presented her research at universities in Canberra, Lund, Maribor, Tirana, Osijek and Nice.
As a Fulbright scholar, she conducted postdoctoral research at Harvard Law School on the role of courts in environmental protection. As a Chevening scholar, she conducted research at the University of Oxford on access to justice in environmental matters. She is the author of more than 80 scientific articles, book chapters and books in the fields of environmental law, climate change law, human rights and environmental justice. In recognition of her contribution to environmental legal education, human rights and the rule of law, the OSCE Mission to Serbia presented her with its Person of the Year Award in 2023.
Contact: mirjana.drenovak@ius.bg.ac.rs