Whatever name the phenomenon goes by—sustainability, ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance), Corporate Social Responsibility, stewardship—concern for the environment is broad and deep among Emma Willard alumnae. Alexandra Harrington ’98 seeks to move the needle on the global policy stage as an international lawyer with a focus on environmental issues.
While Alexandra Harrington can’t say with certainty when her passion for environmental work first took shape, she has a fairly good idea: March 24, 1989. On this day, the oil tanker Exxon-Valdez ran aground in Alaska, spilling 11 million gallons of oil into the pristine waters of Prince William Sound and killing hundreds of thousands of seals, whales, otters, and seabirds. “I remember seeing news of the disaster on television,” she recalls. “When I was a kid, my father insisted I watch the news every evening. Even at that early age, I was interested in the environment and loved animals—we had two dogs that I adored—and when I saw all the wildlife impacted, it really upset me.” The disaster also sharpened Alexandra’s determination to be a good steward of the natural world. “The event stuck with me over the years as something very important,” she observes.
Today Alexandra honors that childhood commitment through her work as an attorney with a specialization in international law and a focus on environmental issues. After earning a bachelor’s degree in politics and history at New York University, she completed her doctorate in civil and international law at McGill University and was subsequently awarded two Fulbright terms in Canada at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, where she focused on global governance issues. Now a resident of the United Kingdom, Alexandra serves as a lecturer in environmental law at Lancaster University and the Executive Director of the Center for Global Governance and Emerging Law (CGGEL). For the past two years, she has dedicated herself to the work of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s World Commission on Environmental Law (IUCN WCEL) Agreement on Plastic Pollution Task Force, which she chairs.
“In 2022, the United Nations’ Environmental Assembly authorized the idea of trying to create an international treaty to regulate plastic pollution at a global level,” Alexandra explains. “We’re trying to stop the manufacture of single-use and hazardous plastics.” The five-person task force is comprised of a small, highly specialized group of academics, civil society members, and practicing lawyers, and Alexandra is one of the group’s two appointed spokespersons. “I am charged with speaking for the IUCN and advising countries on any questions they might have about the plastics treaty,” she says. As a subset of that work—aided by a grant from the Norwegian government—Alexandra and her team are also advising a group of five African nations on how best to implement the recommendations that the plastic pollution task force has put forth.
The challenges facing those seeking to address global environmental concerns are daunting, Alexandra concedes, but small, recurring victories allow her to remain optimistic. “Every time I walk into the classroom to teach, the energy that comes from my students restores me,” she says. “They are energetic and enthusiastic, and they give me hope.”
Alexandra also draws inspiration from her work with disadvantaged countries struggling to address issues of pollution and climate change. “The African nations I’ve been dealing with have historically enjoyed precious little attention or support with respect to environmental issues, so every piece of action on their behalf gives them hope,” she explains. “Every time I realize a small victory that helps someone, my sense of optimism is renewed.”
This desire to have an impact on a global scale links back to her days at Emma Willard, Alexandra continues. “The environment on campus was rich and diverse—we had many international students,” she recalls. “I always found it valuable to get their perspective on the way that people in the United States consumed things…the size of our homes, our portions, etc. Their observations made me realize that the US tends to be an over-consuming nation, which in turn, made me ponder the ramifications of that behavior. Environmental law is a different world than activism,” she concludes, “but policy work offers me the opportunity to have an impact in a different way.”
This piece originally appeared in the Spring/Summer 2024 issue of Signature Magazine as one of three alum features.
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