Our Issue Experts
Laura Turley
Associate
Laura has been working with IISD’s Economic Law and Policy program since 2012 on a range of topics, including public procurement and infrastructure finance, voluntary sustainability standards, and investment in agriculture and water.
Laura’s work includes analyzing ongoing policy and regulatory reforms, developing dedicated policy recommendations, and facilitating formal dialogues with partners and opinion leaders on how public procurement policies and processes can be upgraded to deliver on sustainable development.
Laura specializes in the water sector, having earned an MSc from the University of Oxford in water science, management and policy. Prior to joining IISD, she worked at a boutique consultancy for Geneva-based organizations, including UNEP, UNITAR, ITC and IUCN, where she specialized in trade, governance and sustainable development. Previously she interned for the Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy (CIELAP) in Toronto, designing policy frameworks for clean technologies. Geographically, Laura’s expertise lies in South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Europe.
In addition to consulting for IISD, Laura is currently a PhD student with the University of Geneva, studying water allocation regimes and the role of infrastructure in large-scale water commons.
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State of Sustainability Initiatives Review: Standards and the Extractive EconomyThis report examines voluntary sustainability initiatives (VSIs), and their aim to promote sustainable production practices in the mining sector. -
Investing in Land for Water: The converging legal regimes Policy Brief #4 Investment in AgricultureThis policy brief presents the different sources of law that are triggered by the use of water for farmland investments, and makes recommendations to help reconcile different legal regimes while ensuring water issues are adequately addressed. -
Unsolicited Proposals in Infrastructure: A growing reality for governments, requiring robust management frameworks Unsolicited proposals for infrastructure give rise to significant concerns related to transparency, quality and fair competition in public procurement. -
Safeguarding Human Rights through Public Procurement Public procurement has an essential role to play in facilitating states’ fulfillment of their duties to protect, respect and fulfill human rights... -
Handbook for INGP Public Procurers / Manual para Agentes de Compras Públicas de las RICGThis handbook will guide government procurers on the design of procurement policies and preferential purchasing programs that will crowd-in SMEs, minority suppliers and women-owned enterprises. -
New Research Links Water Security and Economic GrowthWhile it is intuitively clear that economic growth is related to water security there has been very little empirical evidence of this relationship... -
Performance-Based Specifications: Exploring when they work and whyThis report seeks to contribute to the discussion on innovation and sustainable public procurement (SPP) through the investigation of the use of... -
Implementing Sustainable Public Procurement in South Africa: Where to startThis report investigates the extent of policy space for the practical uptake of sustainable public procurement (SPP) in South Africa.It also... -
Value for Money in Infrastructure Procurement: The costs and benefits of environmental and social safeguards in India This report debates the extent to which public-private partnerships (PPPs) are delivering value for money (VFM) in India.While VfM is traditionally... -
Moving Towards Performance-Based Specifications in Public ProcurementThis briefing note outlines some of the key considerations and conditions for the use of performance-based specifications to encourage natural... -
Public-Private Partnership Health Check: Managing partnerships during their lifetime Despite the effects of the financial crisis, public-private partnerships (PPPs) continue to be widely used as a means of realizing public... -
Financing Sustainable Public- Private PartnershipsPublic infrastructure deficits afflict both developed and developing countries, and are compelling governments to bring in private sector capital...
Education
Master of Sciences – Water Science, Policy and Management (2012), University of Oxford, U.K.
Bachelor of Arts – International Development (2009), McGill University, Canada
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Languages
English
French