Enrique Viale is an Argentine lawyer, an expert in environmental policy and law, and one of the leading voices for environmental justice in Latin America. He studied law at the University of Buenos Aires and subsequently specialized in environmental law. In 2004, he founded the Argentine Association of Environmental Lawyers (AAdeAA), of which he remains president to this day.
Viale works as a trial attorney in major environmental and climate cases and represents citizen initiatives in conflicts against large corporations in the mining, agribusiness, and real estate sectors. Among other things, he has been involved in key cases such as the remediation of the Matanza-Riachuelo and is actively engaged in the fight against environmental destruction caused by megaprojects and fracking.
He is a member of the International Tribunal for the Rights of Nature and the Executive Committee of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature, as well as a co-founder of the “Pacto Ecosocial del Sur.” In his work, he critically examines growth-oriented development models and coined the term “urban extractivism.”
In addition to his legal work, Viale is the author of numerous books and scholarly articles on the environment, development, and politics; he is a frequent commentator in the media and regularly speaks at international conferences.