From 1974-92, he served under five US Presidents on the environmental law negotiations under the USA-USSR Agreement for Cooperation in the Field of Environmental Protection. He participated in the 1972 (Stockholm), 1992 (Rio de Janeiro), and 2002 (Johannesburg) United Nations environmental conferences, and the UN General Assembly debates leading to the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals. His most recent book, {Kakar, Robinson and Vesselin, Fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals, Routledge}, appeared in 2021.

He founded the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law, whose members include law schools from every region of the world (currently 202 Institutional Members in 60 countries). He has lectured widely for webinar conferences since the COVID-19 pandemic on zoonosis and how environmental law can be deployed to avert future such pandemics.

He is the former Executive Governor of the International Council of Environmental law (ICEL), the world’s first association of jurists dedicated to the progressive development of environmental law, founded in New Delhi in 1969.

In 2009, Pace University conferred the prestigious position of University Professor for the Environment on Professor Robinson for his significant contribution to scholarship in the field of environmental law, both in the USA and abroad.

Professor Robinson is widely recognized in the U.S. and globally as a pioneer of modern environmental law. He began developing environmental law in 1969, when he was named to the Legal Advisory Committee of the President’s Council on Environmental Quality. During his career, he drafted New York’s wetlands and wild bird laws and was inaugurated as the first chairman of both the statutory Freshwater Wetlands Appeals Board and Greenway Heritage Conservancy for the Hudson River Valley. He edited the proceedings of the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Professor Robinson is Chair Emeritus of the IUCN World Commission on Environment Law, serving from 1996 to 2004, and responsible for many innovations including the launch of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law. He has engaged in drafting treaties and counseling different countries on preparation of environmental laws.

During his tenure at the Law School, Professor Robinson helped establish its environmental law programs, founded the environmental law review, launched the Pace Environmental Law Clinic, secured Pace’s membership in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and pioneered the first United Nation’s Environmental Diplomacy Practicum. His work and influence can be attributed to advancing the Law School’s premiere reputation as the top ranked Environmental Law Program in the nation and across the globe.

Professor Robinson is a prolific legal scholar with hundreds of books, chapters, law review and scholarly journal articles and citations to his credit on pressing topics including conservation, historic preservation, climate change, sustainable development, zoonosis, human rights, international environmental law and more. A collection of his work is preserved in the Nicholas A. Robinson Seminar Space dedicated at the Law School in 2024. He has served on numerous editorial boards for global publications, including Asia Pacific Journal of Environmental Law (since 1998), the Macquarie Journal of International and Comparative Environmental Law (since 2004) and the Journal of the Global Pandemic Network (since 2021).

Professor Robinson has contributed greatly to public service at the local, state and international level, serving on dozens of boards and committees over his career. Notably, he was appointed to serve on the environmental transitional teams and advisory boards for three New York State Governors, George E. Pataki (1994-95), Mario M. Cuomo (1985–1994), and Hugh Carey (1974).

Demonstrating his impact in the field of Environmental Law, Professor Robinson has been honored with numerous awards and accolades, including designation as the James D. Hopkins Professor of Law (1990–1992), and was a recipient of the Elizabeth Haub Prize in Environmental Law (1992), the Federated Conservationists of Westchester County Award (2003), the Scenic Hudson “Friend of the Hudson” Award (2004), and the American Bar Association’s Distinguished Achievement in Environmental Law and Policy Award (2018) among many others. Two awards have also been created in his honor to celebrate outstanding achievement in the field of Environmental Law: the Nicholas Robinson Award for Distinguished Environmental Achievement, established at Haub Law in 2005, and the Nicholas Robinson Award for Excellence in Environmental Law, created by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Commission on Environmental Law in 2021.

Education
BA, Brown University
JD, Columbia University School of Law