APCEL Academic Fellow Justin Lim’s article, ‘Singapore on Thames’ Metropolitan Dreams and Planning Regimes is published in the Oxford Journal of Legal Studies. In his article, Justin critically compares the UK and Singapore planning regimes within their constitutional contexts and sheds light on how divergent approaches to planning may secure different outcomes.

APCEL Director Associate Professor Jolene Lin examines the potential for transnational litigation to advance corporate climate accountability. It also seeks to identify pathways for future research that can underpin a rewarding and meaningful research agenda on climate justice in the Global South.

In the maritime regime fairness is expressed through uniform rule application. When IMO turns to regulate climate-related issue, these divergent fairness grammars collide: one pushes toward differentiation and structural change, while the other secures stability through uniformity.  In her article, APCEL Research Associate Yang Huiwen, proposes a perspective for understanding and bridging the normative tensions that arise when legal regimes interact, using the law-making process in international shipping decarbonisation as its focal point.

On 18-19 March 2026, APCEL Post-Doctorate Fellow Justine Muller and Academic Fellow Justin Lim participated in the ‘Securing Justice for the Planet: Opportunities for, and barriers to, course correction’ conference hosted by Macquarie University. The conference was organised by the Environmental law Research Centre at Macquarie University.

APCEL Senior Research Fellow, Sean D. Tseng, and NUS Emeritus Professor Lye Lin-Heng’s Singapore chapter in the International Encyclopedia of Laws (IEL): Environmental Law is now available online. The monograph is a comprehensive country report on Singapore’s environmental legal system and it provides a systematic overview of how environmental law works in Singapore.

APCEL Researcher Featured in Lianhe Zaobao The Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law (APCEL) is pleased to share that our researcher has been featured in Lianhe Zaobao, one of Singapore’s leading Chinese-language newspapers. The article highlighted commentary by Dr Justine Muller, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at APCEL, National University of Singapore, on the legal and policy implications of the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use. In the interview, Dr Muller noted that while 145 countries have endorsed the Declaration,the instrument lacks the specificity and binding force typically associated with multilateral environmental agreements. In particular, she observed that the absence of clearly defined targets and reporting obligations constrains robust evaluation of its effectiveness.

On 5-6 February, APCEL hosted a team of practitioners, campaigners, and scholars to discuss the way the past strategies of the movement for the Advisory Opinion should inform our future strategies for climate law and policy. The workshop featured discussions about the ways movement lawyering played a significant role in shaping the legal thought and practice during the Advisory Proceedings.

This 2025 newsletter celebrates another exciting year for the Asia Pacific Centre for Environmental Law (APCEL). APCEL hosted several high-profile events, including the Just Transition in Southeast Asia, the Roundtable on COP29, and the Ocean Futures Symposium, co-hosted with Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi. These events allowed us to strengthen our local, regional and global partnerships and to foster collaboration on environmental law research and practice. We also welcomed our first Quadrature Climate Foundation (QCF) Fellow, Dr. Param Pandya. Our researchers have been busy and their work has received international recognition such as the European Society of International Law’s Collaborative Book Prize 2025 for Litigating Climate Change in the Global South (Oxford University Press, 2024) We are deeply grateful for the support of our collaborators, fellows, and partners, whose contributions has made 2025 of meaningful progress, and we invite you to read our amazing journey.

On 22-23 Jan 2026, APCEL hosted a two-day workshop on Biodiversity and Free Trade Agreements that featured 14 early-career and established scholars from Asia, Europe and New Zealand. The symposium spotlights key aspects of the relationship between biodiversity loss and international trade law, including interactions with the international biodiversity regime, and the implementation of sustainability provisions, particularly those found in bilateral and regional trade agreements.

APCEL Senior Research Fellow, Linda Yanti Sulistiawati's paper explores Indonesia's Adat-based approach to RoN through selected case studies, and compares it with the Philippines (e.g., the recognition of resident marine mammals in the Tañon Strait Protected Seascape) and Malaysia (e.g., the Sabah Nature Conservation Agreement). The study highlights the potential of Indonesia's existing Adat framework to evolve into a more robust system of environmental protection. It recommends legal reforms to formally recognize ecosystems as legal persons, enhance the integration of Adat law into national legislation, and promote judicial capacity-building on RoN principles.

APCEL’s Policy Brief, ‘ Exploring a Just Transition in Southeast Asia’ draws upon presentations and discussions from experts in academia, civil society, business, and government to underscore three core priorities: people-centred policies, stronger legal and governance systems, and rights-based, socially inclusive finance.

APCEL’s Director, Dr. Jolene Lin, and Dr. Johanna Aleria Lorenzo recently published the first legal opinion on the international legal obligations of international financial institutions and their major state shareholders when financing development projects. The opinion concludes that multilateral development banks and shareholder states have duties under customary international law and treaties to avoid supporting projects inconsistent with decarbonization or the Paris Agreement. (Views in personal capacity.)