Maria Recio Piva

Maria Recio Piva is a Post-doctoral Researcher at the Law School, Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies, University of Eastern Finland. With over a decade of academic experience at UEF, she specializes in international environmental law, climate change law, and REDD+ legal frameworks, while maintaining two decades of practical expertise in Latin American and Caribbean environmental policy.

• Key research themes include international environmental negotiations, REDD+ implementation, and climate change law across tropical regions.
• She has organized UNEP-UEF joint training programs for diplomats and government officers, and taught Master's-level international environmental law.

Her work bridges theoretical analysis of environmental legal transformation with on-the-ground assessments of forest governance in Latin America and the Caribbean. Notable contributions include:

• Co-authoring the 2024 Global Climate Change Law Textbook
• Pioneering research on human rights integration in REDD+ governance
• Key participation in BBNJ Agreement negotiations and IPBES processes

Maria's publications focus on climate finance mechanisms, multilateral environmental negotiations, and policy support tools for forest conservation. She actively collaborates with indigenous communities, national governments, and regional institutions to strengthen environmental law implementation.