Research interests
- International Human Rights Law
- International Environmental Law (Sustainability Issues, Corporate Responsibility and Climate Justice)
- Social and Redistributive Justice
- Mining Resource Governance, Development Issues, Energy Transition and Local Community Participation
Christian Mpabwa is a doctoral candidate at the University of Ottawa. His research centers around the rights of local (indigenous) communities in the context of mining extraction; environmental issues and participatory development; energy transition and the governance of critical raw minerals. He holds his Master of Laws (LL.M, 2023) from the University of Ottawa.
He is an Alumni of the first cohort of the Observatory on Human Rights at the United Nations (2024-2025) and participated in the Jean Pictet International Competition in Antalya, Turkey (February 2025). He co-authored a report on the implementation of General Recommendation 37 of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) under the supervision of eminent experts. This report was presented in May 2025 in Geneva to the CERD Committee, the University of Neuchâtel, the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Permanent Mission of Canada. He also mentors students that participate in international law competitions as part of his activities as a member of the Observatory Coordination team.
An alumni of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI Dakar-2021) and former co-President of the Graduate Law Students' Association (GSLEED) (2022–2023), he is active in academic and research circles. He has served on the scientific committee of the 2nd International School of Legal Innovation (June 2025, University of Ottawa) and presented at the Université Libre des Pays des Grands-Lacs (ULPGL) Goma International Symposium on Environmental Disruption and Sustainable Development on the challenges of extractivism of critical minerals for energy transition. Author of two published scientific articles, he is currently contributing to several research projects.