Brad Adams is the founder of Climate Rights International. From 2002-2022, Brad was the Executive Director of the Asia division at Human Rights Watch, overseeing investigations, advocacy and media work in twenty countries including China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Japan, and North Korea.
He worked on issues such as attacks on environmental and human rights defenders, land rights, labor rights, the protection of civil society, freedom of expression, refugees, women’s rights, impunity, and international justice. Brad has written for the New York Times, Washington Post, the Guardian, Foreign Affairs, and the Wall Street Journal, among others. He has regularly appeared on the BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera, and other major media.
Prior to Human Rights Watch, Brad worked in Cambodia for five years as the senior lawyer for the Cambodia field office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and as legal advisor to the Cambodian parliament’s human rights committee, conducting human rights investigations, supervising a judicial reform program, and drafting and revising legislation. He was the founder of the Berkeley Community Law Center (now the East Bay Community Law Center), where he worked as a legal aid lawyer. He periodically teaches International Human Rights Law and Practice at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, and is a member of the California State Bar.
