Dr Birsha Ohdedar

Birsha Ohdedar is a Senior Lecturer in Climate Change and Environmental Law and the Deputy Director of the Law, Environment, and Development Centre (LEDC) at SOAS University of London. His research focuses on environmental justice, climate and water law, and post-growth approaches, critically examining the role of law within the broader political economy of the environmental and climate crisis. Drawing on political ecology and critical geography, Birsha’s work spans both international and domestic legal contexts, with a particular regional focus on India.

Birsha is currently engaged in projects addressing water conflicts, climate adaptation and post-growth transitions. He also serves as an Editor of the Law, Environment and Development (LEAD) Journal and co-convenes the LLM in Environmental Law and Sustainable Development at SOAS.

Deeply committed to the practice of environmental justice, Birsha directs the SOAS Environmental Policy Clinic, where students collaborate with NGOs and charities on real-world environmental law and policy initiatives. Beyond SOAS, he is a Trustee of Legal Response International, an organisation providing legal advice on climate change to small island developing states, least-developed countries, and civil society groups.

Birsha is also an Associate Fellow at the Centre for Liberal Arts and Science Pedagogies (CLASP), affiliated with Bard College (USA), and a Visiting Lecturer at King’s College London.

Before entering academia, Birsha practised law in New Zealand, India, and the United Kingdom. He began his career at a large commercial law firm in New Zealand before working with human rights collectives and NGOs in India on land rights and labour issues. Later, he worked with Simmons & Simmons and Cleantech Cadre in London, advising on renewable energy and climate change law.

Birsha holds degrees in Law and Political Studies from the University of Auckland and an LLM and PhD from SOAS.

He welcomes enquiries from prospective PhD candidates.