Mission Statement

The Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law (APCEL) is a research centre at the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore. APCEL is committed to promoting research-based capacity building and advancing innovative scholarship in a spirit of partnership. APCEL was established in 1996, in cooperation with the World Conservation Union-Commission on Environmental Law (IUCN-CEL) and UNEP, in response to the call in Agenda 21 to build capacity in environmental law and promote environmental consciousness.

Since its inception, APCEL has pioneered a wide-ranging programme of teaching, research and outreach to galvanise the use of legal mechanisms to address climate change, biodiversity loss, and plastics pollution. Recent projects include research on the Paris Rulebook, sustainability standards, and environmental courts and tribunals. APCEL also brings internationally renowned scholars together, alongside industry and other civil society stakeholders, to share the latest thinking on environmental law and policy at seminars and conferences.