Stephen Turner

Dr Stephen Turner is a Senior Lecturer at Essex Law School, University of Essex, where he has worked since 2019. He concurrently serves as Programme Director of the £2.3 million Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarship Programme Sustainable Transitions – Governance, Ecological Management and Society (2023–2032) and until 2024 was Co-Director of Post-Graduate Education in the Law School.

Education

• PhD, Queen Mary, University of London (2007)
• LLM, SOAS, University of London (2002)
• LLB (Hons), The Polytechnic of Wales (1987)

Research Interests

Turner’s research is internationally recognised at the intersection of international environmental law, global environmental governance, and human rights law. Employing his pioneering macro legal analysis methodology, he investigates how diverse legal regimes—environmental, trade, investment, corporate, banking and insurance—affect environmental outcomes. His work adopts a rights-based lens to elaborate the substantive content and practical enforcement of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, with particular attention to climate change, corporate accountability, and constitutional environmental provisions.

Recent empirical projects include examining directors’ duties under company law in relation to environmental and human rights impacts, and mapping constitutional environmental standards in Bhutan and Kenya. His research informs policy debates within the UN, World Bank, WHO, and other global fora.

Major Awards & Fellowships

• Principal Investigator, £2.3 million Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarship Award, 2023–2032
• Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (elected 1995)
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Advising & Doctoral Supervision

Turner currently supervises PhD scholars across six disciplines under the Leverhulme Sustainable Transitions programme. He welcomes doctoral proposals in international environmental law, global environmental governance, human rights and the environment, and corporate responsibility. His current supervisee is Tezzeta N'Gungwa Mbuya (PhD Law).

Laboratories & Research Teams

As Programme Director of the Leverhulme Sustainable Transitions Doctoral Training Programme, Turner leads a University-wide interdisciplinary team spanning Essex Law School, the School of Life Sciences, the School of Health and Social Care, the Department of Government, the Essex Business School, and the Department of Sociology. The programme supports up to 18 doctoral scholars with dual supervision across disciplines to deliver systemic research on sustainable transitions.