About This Event Motoko Aizawa will discuss how the urgent focus on the infrastructure financing gap has left another, equally important gap: the burden of sustainability and human rights across all phases of an infrastructure asset. This burden disproportionately affects vulnerable and marginalized communities today and has been further intensified by recent planetary and geopolitical shifts since the publication of her book. The lecture will introduce an analytical framework to examine the sustainability and human rights dimensions throughout the lifecycle of infrastructure projects, highlighting how the accelerating climate crisis adds both complexity and opportunity to infrastructure selection, financing, and operation. Drawing on research from her book and insights from the recent Climate and Human Rights Symposium at UConn, Motoko will explore key questions, including: How are states navigating the complex trade-offs between climate imperatives, development goals, and human rights obligations? How does applying a climate change lens reshape our understanding of human rights risks and opportunities in infrastructure development? Are there models or examples to consider? How have recent geopolitical shifts affected the intersection of sustainability, human rights, and infrastructure? Are there new opportunities in the evolving international aid landscape? The lecture will be followed by a discussion with Paul Rissman, who will explore the theme of inequality in the context of energy transition and climate finance.   About the SpeakerMotoko Aizawa (https://www.iisd.org/people/motoko-aizawa) is an author and researcher specializing in the sustainability challenges of mega-infrastructure development, investment, and finance. She spent over two decades at the World Bank Group in various roles, including as sustainability advisor to the Sustainable Development Network. Motoko was the principal author of the original IFC Performance Standards and led the creation and implementation of the Equator Principles, incorporating the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in both frameworks. Motoko began her career as a business lawyer, focusing on due diligence in mergers and acquisitions at Baker & McKenzie and project financing for infrastructure at the IFC Legal Department. After leaving the World Bank, she served as Managing Director USA of the Institute for Human Rights in Business (2014–2016). She currently chairs the District of Columbia Commission on Human Rights.   DiscussantsPaul Rissman is a former archaeologist, investment executive, and co-founder of Rights CoLab, a global network of human rights advocates and experts. He is a Founding Partner of the Taskforce on Inequality and Social-related Financial Disclosures and member of the International Sustainability Standards Board's Sustainability Reference Group. For two decades, Rissman worked at AllianceBernstein, where he served in various roles including analyst, portfolio manager, director of global growth research, and CIO of Alliance Growth Equities. He has served on nonprofit and for-profit boards and is currently Director Emiritus of the Sierra Club Foundation. He was named an Open Society Foundations Fellow in 2019, researching shareholder advocacy regarding economic inequality, grounded in financially material disclosure standards. He received his doctorate in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania, where his research concerned pastoralists in Bronze Age South Asia.Anthony Cotton is a Senior Advisor for Development Finance Institutions at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. In this role he advances accountability, safeguards, and remedy across multilateral development banks. Prior to this role Cotton served in a variety of senior leadership positions at the United States Agency for International Development, with a focus on development finance, human rights, nondiscrimination, inclusive development, and gender equality. He holds degrees from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Fordham University, and the Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy; and has been a Fulbright Scholar, Presidential Management Fellow, and the recipient of Equal Employment Opportunity, Ethics, Human Rights, and Management Improvement awards. Most importantly, he is the father of two toddlers who are lovingly unimpressed with his biography.   SponsorsThis event is hosted by the Business & Human Rights Initiative (https://humanrights.uconn.edu/areas-of-focus/business/) (BHRI) and Research Program on Economic & Social Rights (https://humanrights.uconn.edu/areas-of-focus/economic-social-rights/) (ESRG), in collaboration with the Engineering for Human Rights Initiative (https://humanrights.uconn.edu/areas-of-focus/engineering/) (EHRI).Part of the 2025-26 'Why Human Rights Matter' series.

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Spend the second day of International Education Week listening as our international students introduce seminal legal cases from their home countries. Compare and contrast with the U.S. legal approach and engage in thought-provoking discussion!

Come in for short demos of the Legal AI products that we have access to and an open discussion of the pros and cons of using AI for legal research.This session is hosted by Tanya Johnson.

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