About
I joined the University of Derby Law School in September 2019 from the University of Chester where I taught on numerous undergraduate and postgraduate modules. My main research areas are in international environmental law and natural resources governance. I received an LLB in Law from the University of Benin, Nigeria and an LLM and PhD in Law from the University of Hull. I have also been called to the Nigerian Bar as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
I am also the Co-Lead, International, Environmental, and Human Rights Law Research Cluster at the University of Derby Law School.
I am currently an Associate Professor of International Environmental Law.
Research interests
I am an expert on environmental rights/justice issues in developing countries (including Nigeria and the African Union). I have expertise in the following areas:
- Environmental Justice
- Climate justice and litigation
- Environmental Law
- African Union Law
- Sustainable Development
- International Trade Law
- Private International Law in Africa
- International Investment Law Issues in Africa
My present research focuses on:
- Intersections between Environmental Justice and Energy Justice
- Just energy transitions
- Environmental Justice in the Global South
- Environmental Justice in the United Kingdom
- Climate Justice and Climate Litigation in the Global South
- Climate Change Governance
- African Customary Law
- African International Legal History (with focus on Benin Kingdom)
- Comparative Legal History
Professional interests
I am the Chair, International Law Association (ILA -Nigerian Branch) Teaching International Law and SDGs Committee and a member of the exco of ILA Nigeria.
Member International Law Association (ILA) Committee ‘International Law for the SDGs’ (May 2025 to date)
I am currently supervising PhD students in energy justice, climate litigation and international human rights law.
I have experience in management of research grants (external and internal). I was the Principal Investigator/Research Lead - UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Research Grant - Research Networking Grant 'Business and Human Rights Scholarship: Developing networks and perspectives from the Global South' (£30,000).
Experience in industry
I regularly get invited to give talks at workshops and conferences inside and outside the UK. I have also been called to the Nigerian Bar as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. In the past, I have practised as a lawyer and legal consultant in Nigeria.
Activities organised under the auspices of UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Research Grant -Research Networking Grant ‘Business and Human Rights Scholarship: Developing networks and perspectives from the Global South.’
- UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Research Grant -Research Networking Grant ‘Business and Human Rights Scholarship: Developing networks and perspectives from the Global South’ one-day workshop at the Moot Court, Faculty of Law, University of Cape Town, South Africa, on April 1, 2025 https://law.uct.ac.za/law-at-work/derby-conference
- UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Research Grant -Research Networking Grant ‘Business and Human Rights Scholarship: Developing networks and perspectives from the Global South’ one-day workshop at Riara University, Nairobi Kenya on 12 June 2025.
- UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Research Grant -Research Networking Grant ‘Business and Human Rights Scholarship: Developing networks and perspectives from the Global South’ one-day workshop at the University of Derby 4 August 2025.
Professor Chantal Davies, Dr Holly White, Dr Kim Ross and Dr Eghosa Ekhator engaged in a 12-month research project (Inclusive Environments: designing a framework for environmental justice) which used principles of co-production via community and stakeholder engagement and research to develop an environmental Justice framework/toolkit for environmental sustainability decision making (based on existing equality impact assessment approaches) for use by public and private sector organisations across the subregion of Cheshire and Warrington and beyond.
The environmental justice toolkit, website and web tool development (interactive web-based tool for the framework) was launched in July 2025. Link to website of Inclusive Environments project - https://www.inclusive-environments.org/
My academic papers have been cited by a plethora of organisations and international agencies including the United Nations Refugee Agency and the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) ‘Responses to Information Requests (RIR) report (NGA106371.E) on Nigeria’ amongst others.
I have provided expert advice to African Governments and policymakers under the auspices of the African Commission Working Group on Rights of Older Persons and People with Disabilities in collaboration with the University of Pretoria, South Africa. This was during the one-day consultation Meeting on the ratification of the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention) and the Protocols to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Older Persons and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa which took place on 23 June 2022.
Our (Dr Eghosa Ekhator and Dr Doyin Babajide) written evidence to the United Kingdom Parliament's International Trade Committee's inquiry was cited in a letter sent to Kemi Badenoch, the Secretary of State for International Trade of United Kingdom by the Committee on 7 November 2022. Link: UK trade approach towards developing countries - Committees - UK Parliament
Dr Eghosa Ekhator and Dr Doyin Babajide written evidence to the United Kingdom Parliament's International Trade Committee's inquiry, UK trade approach towards developing countries has been accepted and published on the committee’s website - UK trade approach towards developing countries - Committees - UK Parliament March 2022.
Eghosa O. Ekhator ‘Real World Change: When Academic Research Informs Policy’ published by the University Policy Engagement Network (UPEN) 17 June 2022 UPEN - Blogs.
I was interviewed and cited by Taylor and Francis Publishing Group in a report titled ‘How can policy makers be globally inclusive when it comes to sustainability? 11 experts weigh in’ (November 2022). How Can Policy Makers be Globally Inclusive When it Comes to Sustainability? (taylorandfrancis.com)
Member Panel of the Judges for the Environmental Justice and Climate Impact Litigation Moot Court Competition (EJCIL-MC) 2026/2026 maiden edition. (February 2026) Environmental and Climate Impact Litigation Moot Competition (ECJCIL-MC)(2024-2025)
Organiser and keynote speaker for the Inclusive Environment Nigeria Workshop (Hybrid Lagos Nigeria 7 April 2026) where civil society, the media and other critical stakeholders discussed the Environmental Justice Framework/Toolkit developed by Professor Chantal Davies, Dr Holly White, Dr Kim Ross and Dr Eghosa Ekhator. Weblinks to the reports of the event are below:
https://www.environewsnigeria.com/stakeholders-explore-potential-in-new-eia-initiative/
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2026/04/uk-researchers-advocacy-groups-hold-workshop-on-eia-environmental-justice/
https://guardian.ng/news/ogonis-demand-environmental-justice-before-oil-resumption/
Additional interests and activities
Reviewer roles
- Reviewer, Commonwealth Law Bulletin, United Kingdom
- Reviewer, Journal of Sustainable Development Law and Policy, Afe Babalola University, Nigeria
- Reviewer, Journal of African Law
- Reviewer Umẹwaẹn: Journal of Benin and Ẹdo Studies published with the support of the Department of History, State University of New York, Oswego, NY
- Reviewer, Griffith Law Review
- Reviewer, Southern African Public Law (published by University of South Africa)
- Reviewer (Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal (published by North West University South Africa)
- Member, Nigerian Bar Association Law Journal (Benin Branch) Editorial Committee
- Reviewer, Journal of Comparative Law in Africa. Published by the Centre for Comparative Law in Africa, Faculty of Law, University of Cape Town
- Reviewer, Comparative Legal History
Funding
- University of Chester Global Challenges grant (2017-2018 session) with Professor Servel Miller (Department of Geography and International Development, University of Chester) worth £3,062
- University of Chester Global Challenges grant (2018-2019 session) with Professor Servel Miller worth £5,616 (I was the principal investigator in this project)
- Society of Legal Scholars (SLS) Small Projects and Events Fund (May 2021) - £2,066.50 with Dr Chisa Onyejekwe (Canterbury Christ University) to organise a workshop, titled ‘Generating a future for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a post-COVID-19 Pandemic World’
Member of FACE’s Academic Advisory Group. The Forever Africa Conference and Events (FACE) is a Pan-African initiative brought together by staff and students at the University of Bristol. It has a goal-oriented, interdisciplinary, cross-sector, intergenerational, intercommunity, and intercontinental vision to dialogue for the purpose of bringing change to the Pan-African community through knowledge cooperation.
Coordinator External Collaboration and Engagement - African Natural Resources and Energy Law Network (ANRELN).
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