Dr. Lorenzo Cotula is a Principal Researcher in Law and Sustainable Development at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), a policy research institute based in the United Kingdom. He is also a Visiting Professor at the School of Law, University of Strathclyde. For the past 20 years, Lorenzo has been collaborating with researchers, civil society and government agencies in Africa, Asia and Latin America, as well as with bilateral and multilateral development agencies.

His research and policy work focuses on the legal arenas where natural resource governance meets the global economy – cutting across land and natural resource law; international
investment law; law and transnational value chains; human rights; political economy of natural resources and foreign investment; and legal empowerment, citizen agency and public accountability.