Professor Dr. Bharat H. Desai holds the Jawaharlal Nehru Chair and is Professor of International Law at the Centre for International Legal Studies, School of International Studies of Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. He is Editor-in-Chief of Environmental Policy and Law (Amsterdam: IOS Press).

A leading International Law scholar, Prof. Desai has the distinction of authoring/editing ideational books by global publishing houses such as: (i) International Law: Taking it Seriously (Singapore: Springer Nature, 2023; forthcoming) (ii) Envisioning Our Environmental Future: Stockholm+50 and Beyond (IOS Press: Amsterdam, Berlin, Washington DC, 2022; (iii) Sexual & Gender Based Violence in International Law: Making International Institutions Work (Singapore: Springer Nature, 2022); (iv) Soil Law and Governance in India (Berlin: Springer, 2022; Ed); (v) Our Earth Matters (Amsterdam, Berlin, Washington DC: IOS Press, 2021; (vi) International Environmental Governance: Towards UNEPO? (Boston, USA: Brill Nijhoff, 2014); (vii) Multilateral Environmental Agreements: Legal Status of the Secretariats (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010; Paperback 2013); (viii) Creeping Institutionalization: Multilateral Environmental Agreements & Human Security (Bonn: UNU-EHS, 2006); (ix) Institutionalizing International Environmental Law (New York: Transnational, 2004).

Prof. Desai has provided some big ideas for addressing the global problematique. It includes: (i) “The 2022 Stockholm+50 Moment in the Era of a Planetary Crisis: Lessons for the Scholars and the Decision-makers”, Environmental Policy and Law 53 (1) 2023, 3-18; (ii) “Regulating Global Climate Change: From Common Concern to Planetary Concern”, Environmental Policy and Law 52 (5-6) 2022, 331-347; Regulating Global Climate Change: From Common Concern to Planetary Concern - IOS Press; (iii)“The Repurposed UN Trusteeship Council for the Future", Environmental Policy and Law 52 (3-4) 2022, 223–235; epl219039 (iospress.com); (iv) “Sixty Years of the Indus Waters Treaty: A Look Ahead in Hydro-diplomacy and Treaty Law”, Environmental Policy and Law 51 (3) 2021, 175-184; (v) “ICTs as the New Environmental Sentinels”, Environmental Policy and Law 51 (1-2) 2021, 121-134; ICTs as the New Environmental Sentinels - IOS Press; (vi) “The Quest for a UN ‘Specialized Agency’ for the Environment (UNEPO), The Round Table (London: RSIA), 101 (2) 2012; Indian JIL (New Delhi: ISIL), 40 (3) 2000, 455-504.

Prof. Desai has served as a member of the Official Indian Delegations to various intergovernmental negotiations as well as consulted by the ADB, ICIMOD, IHDP, IUCN, SACEP, UNEP, UNU, World Bank and other global agencies.