Henrique Bettencourt, alumni of the Faculty of Law - School of Porto, receives the Miguel Poiares Maduro 2020 Award
The Professor Miguel Poiares Maduro 2020 Award, given annually to the graduate who presents the best written work within the Global Constitutional Law seminar, was awarded to alumni Henrique Bettencourt.
Besides the award ceremony, Miguel Poiares Maduro, guest lecturer at the Oporto Law School, was also the speaker at the lecture "Democracy in Pandemic Times".
The session took place in a hybrid format, being presential for students of the Oporto School of Law and with streaming transmission for external public.
In conversation with Henrique Bettencourt, the winner of this award:
What did your work consist of?
My work consisted in analysing the connection between climate change and the human rights that, already nowadays, are being affected by it. This is followed by an analysis of Global Environmental Constitutionalism to understand whether it is a good tool to fight this scourge.
Today, more than ever, it is necessary to become aware of the great danger that climate change represents. The human rights of each one of us are at great risk, so it is necessary to act as quickly as possible to preserve the aforementioned human rights. It has been concluded through the research that Global Environmental Constitutionalism may prove to be an effective tool to fight climate change. The first thing we should recognize is that climate change is not just a problem for some countries or regions. Considering the worldwide impact, there are no scenarios in which the mention "global" in Global Constitutionalism makes more sense. Thus, this discipline, by fostering worldwide cooperation on this issue, could be one of the solutions to the problem under consideration.
How do you remember your law degree?
When I recall my law degree, the first word that comes to mind is nostalgia. It was, above all, a happy and very important period for my personal development, where I grew at all levels. Obviously the academic component is extremely important, but I must also highlight all the extra-academic experiences that I had but which were provided by my degree, namely the friendships I made there.
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