Harsh Vardhan Bhati is an environmental, natural resources, and energy lawyer and a Doctor of Laws in environmental law. He is currently a researcher at Uppsala University. His research focuses on interdisciplinary approaches to law, climate governance, and conservation. His doctoral dissertation examined how international legal obligations under the UNESCO World Heritage Convention are interpreted and implemented at the national and local levels in light of international climate and energy commitments, and how these legal and institutional frameworks influence decision-making and the agency of public officials, municipal authorities, heritage professionals, and local communities seeking to balance heritage conservation with decarbonization and sustainability goals.
Harsh has advised the Government of Rajasthan and Karnataka in India on legal and policy matters concerning forest conservation, waste governance, renewable energy, and protected area governance (tiger reserves), and has conducted fieldwork with Indigenous, pastoral, and urban communities in India, the Brazilian Amazon, Ecuador, and the European Union. He teaches comparative environmental law at Uppsala University and is a faculty member at Jindal Global Law School. He is also a member of the Research Group on Rights of Nature and Animals under the auspices of the International Association of Constitutional Law.
Harsh holds a Doctor of Laws (juris doktor) in environmental law from Uppsala University, Sweden, an LL.M. in Environmental, Natural Resources, and Energy Law from Lewis & Clark Law School, United States, where he was awarded the Environmental Ambassador LL.M. Award, and a B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) from Jindal Global Law School, O. P. Jindal Global University, India.
Selected Publications:
Bhati, H. V. (2025) “Powering Preservation: Balancing Heritage Conservation and Energy Transition in World Heritage Cities,” Doctoral Thesis, Uppsala University, Uppsala. Doctoral dissertation: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-555980
Bhati, H. V. (2025) “Energy Sustainability in UNESCO World Heritage Cities: On the Local and National Implementation of International Law in Visby (Sweden), Jaipur (India), and Bath (United Kingdom),” Nordic Environmental Law Journal, Issue 2025:1 pp. 47-95. Web: https://nordiskmiljoratt.se/latest-issue.html
Bhati, H. V., Geijer, M., and Epstein, Y. (2025) “Implementing the Green Energy Transition in a UNESCO World Heritage City: A Case Study of Visby, Sweden,” Journal for European Environmental and Planning Law, Brill Nijhoff, Vol. 22(3) pp. 271-324. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/18760104-22030004
Bhati, H. V. (2025) “Implementing cultural heritage conservation and energy sustainability in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Jaipur city, India,” Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, Frontiers, Vol. 7 pp. 1-24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2025.1548279
Bhati, H. V. and Epstein, Y. (2023) “Protection of Biocultural Heritage in the Anthropocene: Towards Reconciling Natural, Cultural, Tangible and Intangible Heritage,” Journal of Environmental Law, Oxford University Press, Vol. 35(3) pp. 353-375. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jel/eqad020
Bhati, H. V (2020) “Waste to Energy Project (Part II),” Environmental Policy and Law, IOS Press, Vol. 50(3) pp. 151-163. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3233/EPL-200210
Bhati, H. V (2019) “One World One Sun One Grid: a (modi)fication in India’s environment,” Jindal Global Law Review, Springer Nature, Vol. 10(1) pp. 73-90. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41020-019-00086-1
Rosencranz, A. and Bhati, H. V. (2015) “Waste-to-Energy Projects (Comparing Approaches),” Environmental Policy and Law, IOS Press, Vol. 45(3-4) pp. 130-132. Available at: https://law.lclark.edu/live/files/20255-harsh-bhati—waste-to-energy-publication