Hi everyone

I'm an Australian lawyer, I want to apply for specialist LLM programs in the area of climate change law and/or international environmental law in the US or UK, but I'm having difficulty narrowing down which universities to apply for.

I have already published an article on international carbon offsets in a prominent US journal and I hope to deepen my understanding of the area, gain different perspectives and meet prominent academics by undertaking a specialist LLM program.

I was leaning towards Columbia, because of its Center for Climate Change Law, but I have been told that Professor Michael Gerrard is the only stand-out academic in the field at Columbia, and that the university only offers one generalist, introductory course on climate change law.

Pace University offers a Climate Change track in its LLM in Environmental Law, but I'm not sure if Pace is as prestigious as other universities.

I'm also considering Yale, Stanford, NYU, UC Berkeley, University of Edinburgh, UCL and Cambridge.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

This is probably too late to help you with your decision, but for anyone else who is looking to study climate change and related law, definitely look into Pace's environmental law graduate program.
I received my LL.M. in Environmental Law from Pace and can tell you that it is a great place to study. It is not as large or generally well-known as Cambridge or Columbia, etc., but it's offerings and reputation in the field of environmental law are challenged by only a few schools in the world. In the US, Pace is ranked as one of top three environmental law programs and is the only one of those top programs located within a major metropolitan area (just north of New York City), which is great for internship experiences, research, networking, and job prospects. The Pace Energy and Climate Center is located on campus. The Center is a full-operational think tank that LL.M. students may work in and research alongside experts in the field of climate and energy law. The Pace environmental faculty are renowned in their areas of expertise. Pace also offers a specialization specifically in climate change law.
So, if you are interested in obtaining an LL.M. in climate change law (or environmental law in general), definitely look into Pace's program: http://law.pace.edu/environment

Best,
Laura Jensen, J.D., LL.M.
Pace Law School