APCEL NEWS Highlights: 1 July – 31 December 2017 Executive Committee Advisory Committee Co-Directors Co-Chairs Assoc. Professor Jolene LIN Professor Tommy TB KOH Assoc. Professor LYE Lin-Heng Ambassador-at-Large, Singapore; Special Adviser, Institute of Policy Deputy Director Studies, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Assoc. Professor Burton ONG Policy; and Chairman, Centre for International Law, Honorary Director National University of Singapore Emeritus Professor KOH Kheng-Lian (former APCEL Director) Dr Parvez HASSAN, Senior Advocate, Committee Members Supreme Court of Pakistan Professor Alan TAN Khee-Jin Former Chairman, IUCN-CEL Assoc. Professor Robert C. BECKMAN Assoc. Professor Michael EWING-CHOW Members Assoc. Professor LIM Lei-Theng Professor Domenico AMIRANTE, Italy Asst. Professor Jean HO Qing-Ying Emeritus Professor Ben BOER, Australia Asst. Professor Jaclyn NEO Ling-Chien Dr Lena CHAN, NParks, Singapore Mr Edwin T.F.KHEW, SEAS, Singapore Ex-officio Dr Bindu N.LOHANI, ADB, Philippines Professor Simon CHESTERMAN Justice Brian PRESTON, Australia Dean, Faculty of Law Kerlin Professor Emeritus Nicholas A National University of Singapore ROBINSON,USA --------------------------------------------------- Mr TAN Gee Paw, PUB, Singapore Associate Members Ambassador Amado S.TOLENTINO, Ms Lovleen BHULLAR (India) Philippines Ms Denise CHEONG Stephen TROMANS QC, United Kingdom Dr Joseph CHUN Mr Vina DHARMARAJAH Dr Asanga GUNAWANSA (Sri Lanka) Ms Faizah JAMAL Dr Sally-Ann JOSEPH (Australia) Ms Youna LYONS Assoc. Prof Benoit MAYER (Hong Kong) Ms Melissa TAN Bee-Neo Mr TAN Kai-Liang Sallie YANG Chia-Wei (Thailand) 1 APCEL NEWS Highlights: 1 July – 31 December 2017 • APCEL welcomes Co-Director from 1 August 2017 APCEL welcomed Assoc Prof Jolene Lin as Co-Director from 1 August 2017. Prof Lin was an Associate Professor of Law at the Law Faculty, University of Hong Kong. Her research interests lie in global environmental governance. Her most recent research focuses on climate change law as a matter of public international and domestic law. • APCEL thanks former Deputy Director APCEL warmly thanks Assoc Prof Burton Ong, for his many contributions to APCEL as Deputy Director from 1 July 2013 to 31 July 2017. In particular, A/P Ong initiated the establishment of the Environmental Law Students’ Association (ELSA). I. Activities of APCEL and its Members This report is prepared from information supplied by APCEL Executive Committee members and Associate members. • APCEL Closed-Door Seminar on Nature Conservation and Wildlife Laws in Singapore, Faculty of Law, NUS, 31 July 2017, Faculty of Law, NUS The speakers were: APCEL Director Assoc Prof Lye Lin Heng; Adjunct Assoc Prof Joseph Chun; Dr Lena Chan, Group Director, National Biodiversity Centre, National Parks Board and Ms Jessica Yap, Senior Executive Manager, Wildlife Section, Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority. This event was meant to provide an overview of nature conservation and wildlife laws in Singapore for the biodiversity community. It was also intended to facilitate NGO collaboration with each other, as well as with the relevant government agencies. We had invited participants from the academic institutions, governmental agencies and non-governmental organisations to participate in this closed door event. 2 APCEL NEWS Highlights: 1 July – 31 December 2017 APCEL Closed-Door Seminar on Nature Conservation and Wildlife Laws in Singapore, Faculty of Law, NUS, 31 July 2017, Faculty of Law, NUS • Seminar and Book Launch, 28 August 2017, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia E/ Koh Kheng-Lian was invited by the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS), Malaysia, on the occasion of Seminar and Launch of Book, ASEAN: Future Forward ─Essays Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Anticipating the Next 50 Years. Prof Koh contributed a chapter entitled, “Sustainably Developed ASEAN - 50 Years On: ASEAN Environmental Legal Integration?” She was invited to serve on the Panel Discussion –“Visualising ASEAN Next 50 Years”. She made a presentation on “The current state of the people-to-people dynamics in ASEAN”. The occasion was attended by many dignitaries including the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Shah, who gave the Keynote Speech marking the 50th Anniversary of ASEAN. • APCEL Seminar Series: The Role of the Market and Traditional Regulation in Decarbonizing China’s Energy Supply, 13 September 2017, Faculty of Law, NUS The speaker was Professor Anatole Boute from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The seminar was chaired by APCEL’s Co-Director, Assoc Prof Jolene Lin. 3 APCEL NEWS Highlights: 1 July – 31 December 2017 APCEL Seminar Series: The Role of the Market and Traditional Regulation in Decarbonizing China’s Energy Supply, 13 September 2017, Faculty of Law, NUS • 2nd BRI Event - Belt and Road Initiative: Developing Green Economies for Cities, 26 – 28 Sept 2017, Vienna, Austria E/Prof Koh Kheng-Lian was invited by the United Nations for Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) & Finance Center for South-South Cooperation together with Ökostadt to present a paper, and an exhibition on Sino- Singapore Tianjin Eco – City. The title of her presentation was “The Sino- Singapore Tianjin Eco – City and the BRI ‘Bridge for Cities’ ”. Her exhibition was one of the eight exhibitions, entitled, One-Belt-One-Road and Sustainable City Exhibition and Dialogue. There were over 400 participants which included representatives from 220 organizations/institutions/companies, 113 cities and 50 countries. This is a significant conference & exhibition sponsored by the Peoples Republic of China which recently launched its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). For summary of her presentation, see https://congocsd.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/summary-presentation-12- points-summary-01-4.pdf 4 APCEL NEWS Highlights: 1 July – 31 December 2017 • APCEL Seminar Series: Framing and Mapping Governance Barriers to Energy Upgrades in Apartments, 2 October 2017, Faculty of Law, NUS The speaker was Professor Susan Bright, University of Oxford. The seminar was chaired by APCEL’s Co-Director, Assoc Prof Lye Lin Heng. APCEL Seminar Series: Framing and Mapping Governance Barriers to Energy Upgrades in Apartments, 2 October 2017, Faculty of Law, NUS • APCEL Seminar Series: Environmental Adjudication in Queensland: Optimizing Use of ADR and Expert Evidence, 17 October 2017, Faculty of Law, NUS The speaker was Judge Fleur Kingham, President, Land Court of Queensland. The seminar was chaired by APCEL’s Co-Director, Assoc Prof Jolene Lin. 5 APCEL NEWS Highlights: 1 July – 31 December 2017 APCEL Seminar Series: Environmental Adjudication in Queensland: Optimizing Use of ADR and Expert Evidence, 17 October 2017, Faculty of Law, NUS • The Fifth Asia Environment Lecture 2017 - “Birds, Humans and our Sustainable Future” by Ms Patricia Zurita, CEO, Birdlife International, 3 November 2017, Faculty of Law, NUS This event was co-organised by APCEL together with the NUS MSc (Env Mgt) [MEM] programme, the NUS Bachelor in Environmental Studies (BES) Programme; National Parks Board and City Developments Ltd, which also sponsored the event. The speaker for this year’s lecture was Ms Patricia Zurita, CEO of Birdlife International. Birdlife International is the world’s largest nature conservation partnership that strives to conserve the habitats and biodiversity of birds. As the widely recognised world leader in bird conservation, Birdlife International conducts field research on the ground for data to enable successful implementation of bird conservation programmes across national borders. There are some 120 Birdlife Partners worldwide from 118 countries and the community is continuing to grow. In earlier years, Ms Zurita was the Executive Director of the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, a global multi-donor fund enabling civil society to participate in and benefit from conserving some of the world’s most critical ecosystem. Prior to that, she also led the Conservation Stewards Programme which is dedicated to the provision of economic incentives to local and indigenous communities in developing countries in exchange for their commitment to protect biodiversity through conservation agreements. Please refer to website for the post event report - https://law.nus.edu.sg/apcel/activities/2017/5thAELPostEventReport2017.pdf 6 APCEL NEWS Highlights: 1 July – 31 December 2017 The Fifth Asia Environment Lecture 2017 - Birds, Humans and our Sustainable Future by Ms Patricia Zurita, CEO, Birdlife International, 3 November 2017, Faculty of Law, NUS • International Conference on Environment – 2017 organised by National Green Tribunal of India and other Organisations, 3 – 4 November, 2017, New Delhi, India The National Green Tribunal of India in association with United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation hosted the above conference. E/Prof Koh Kheng-Lian was invited by National Green Tribunal to present a paper on “Illegal Deforestation: ICC Jurisdiction and ‘Crimes against Humanity’ – the Cambodian Case of Land-Grabbing?” This Conference is a step towards pioneering approaches which will have repercussions globally on all environmental policy areas such as, Forest and Biodiversity, Municipal Solid Waste, Climate Change, Clean and Renewable Energy. The conference aims to provide a platform, so as to examine, analyze and evaluate various environmental issues and formulate a road map to achieve