Mr. Manuj Bhardwaj

About

Manuj Bhardwaj is an international lawyer, policy negotiator and strategist for sovereign states at International Courts, Tribunals & Multilateral Forums. He specializes in international trade & investment, climate policy & governance, strategic affairs and foreign policy. Until recently, he was worked as the Head of Climate Governance, Energy and Trade Policy Advisory at BSM Legal Advisors & Strategy Consultants LLP.

He has advised organizations and businesses with market entry & profitable expansion strategies. He has been a part of various multilateral negotiations on trade, investment, climate change and foreign policy. Manuj has substantial and sizeable knowledge of economic affairs, business development, legal & policy issues, strategy shaping, international trade & investment, climate change law and international relations. He has experience working with a range of governmental, inter-governmental, and non-governmental organizations and educational institutions on strengthening India’s bilateral relations in the areas mentioned above. He is passionate about climate issues and is researching how economic growth & climate action can prevail together for developing and under-developed countries. His research focuses on current international climate policy and energy law topics as well as topics that are at the forefront of public policy and debate. He is working on providing an overview of the modern legislative and regulatory framework, and how federal and state regulators and policy leaders work cooperatively (or uncooperatively) to balance economic, environmental, and societal values. His study on The Importance of Climate Justice has been published by Connect4Climate which is a global partnership program of the World Bank Group and the Italian Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea, together with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. The same has been quoted by various universities and professors in their books and journals.

He is also a regular invitee to heads of states meetings, diplomatic missions, international conferences and policy dialogues such as Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2018 in London (UK), UNFCCC’s COP 23 in Bonn (Germany), Commonwealth Secretariat’s Observer Mission to Sierra Leone for General Elections and UNCTAD’s World Investment Forum 2018, Geneva to name a few. He has led high-level delegations to the US and UK. He is also the Co-Chair of “The India – UK Legal Exchange Programme” an initiative by Indian and UK law firms in partnership with various other regulatory & government institutions including The Law Society of England & Wales and Members of the House of Lords & House of Commons, UK Parliament. Manuj was also the convener of the International Conference on Trade & Investment Law (TRAIL) 2019 in New Delhi organized by the United Nations Conference on Trade & Development (UNCTAD) in partnership with the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India and The Commonwealth Secretariat. He has also worked at British Parliament in the House of Commons for a short period of time. In 2018, he announced a grant of USD 15000 for young entrepreneurs/start-ups at the World Investment Forum organized by the United Nations Conference on Trade & Development at UN Headquarters in Geneva. He is a regular speaker & invitee to various international forums of the United Nations on human rights, entrepreneurship, trade & investment and climate change. He is currently the Executive Secretary of The Indian National Association of Legal Professionals (INALP).

Manuj has a Dual Masters (MSc) in Public Policy & Human Development with specialization in Foreign Policy & Development from United Nations University & Maastricht University based in The Netherlands. He has a special interest in curating conferences and capacity-building programs for the Indian legal fraternity in partnership with various national & international organizations. Manuj is an adjunct faculty at a number of law schools in India and abroad. Manuj was also the youngest member of the Commonwealth Secretariat Observer Mission to Sierra Leone’s Presidential Elections. During this mission he had an opportunity to hold various discussions around Climate Action and International Trade with all leading political parties of Sierra Leone, the then President and the Presidential Candidates. He also had the opportunity to discuss these issues with peers from DFID, UNDP, European Union, ECOWAS and the African Union. He is currently based in the US and pursuing his Doctoral research at American University Washington College of Law.