Francesco Maletto

Focus

Francesco joined ClientEarth in April 2021 and is a lawyer in the Marine Ecosystems legal team. His work focuses on marine conservation, using the law to achieve meaningful and effective protection of Marine Protected Areas and, more broadly, of marine wildlife and habitats in European waters.

Francesco’s work has a strong emphasis on strategic litigation to strengthen the enforcement of EU and international environmental law, with particular attention to Mediterranean jurisdictions. He is based in the Madrid office.

Experience

Alongside his professional practice, Francesco has been active in academia. He currently teaches Environmental Law as an Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Law of Comillas Pontifical University (ICADE) in Madrid.

Before joining ClientEarth, Francesco worked as an Environmental and Energy Law Associate at a leading Italian law firm, advising major Italian and international clients on regulatory, transactional, and litigation matters. His practice covered, among other areas, the environmental impact and emissions of industrial facilities, waste and hazardous substances management, remediation of contaminated sites, and renewable energy projects.

Education

Francesco holds a PhD from Maastricht University. His doctoral research focused on the application of the Principle of Prevention to marine pollution from land-based sources, with particular attention to the European regional context, and was completed in parallel with full-time professional practice.

He graduated summa cum laude in Law from the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Milan in 2016. He later collaborated with the university as a Teaching Assistant in Public International Law, examining students in final oral assessments covering the full range of public international law topics, including international environmental law. Francesco qualified as a lawyer before the Court of Appeal of Milan in 2019.

It is the duty of organisations like ClientEarth to restore, through the power of law, the primordial pact between humans and Nature, today compromised by over-exploitation and uncontrolled use of natural resources. I could not be prouder to devote my experience to this cause and, alongside inspiring colleagues, to give a voice to habitats and wildlife.