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.)

On 29 October 2025, APCEL and IPCC Cities convened a Law Expert Review Group for the First Order Draft of the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Cities. Twenty global legal experts discussed issues including equity, climate litigation, loss and damage, and multilevel governance. Their insights will inform the Second Order Draft and strengthen the report’s legal analysis. APCEL is pleased to support this important review.

Dr. Linda Yanti Sulistiawati spoke at the International Law Conference on Protection of Forests and Rights of Environment Defenders in Cebu, Philippines (23–25 October 2025). Presenting on Indigenous People's Rights and Ius Natura in Indonesia, she explored how Indonesia’s recognition of indigenous rights could advance a rights-of-nature framework and strengthen environmental and ecological justice.

APCEL’s Senior Research Fellow, Dr. Linda Yanti Sulistiawati, presented her research proposal, “Integrated Framework of Legal Analysis and Big Data Economic Modelling for Assessing Climate Change in the Asia-Pacific Region,” at Abu Dhabi University School of Law’s inaugural Research Workshop on 15 October 2025. Her study bridges legal frameworks and data analytics to strengthen evidence-based climate policymaking in the region.

APCEL and Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi jointly hosted the “Ocean Futures” symposium, bringing together experts from law, policy, science, and industry to discuss decarbonisation, marine biodiversity, and technological innovation in ocean governance. Through three thematic panels, speakers explored regulatory frameworks, industry challenges, biodiversity protection, and emerging AI-driven solutions. The event underscored the importance of international collaboration in advancing sustainable and resilient oceans.

On 14 October 2025, APCEL hosted a delegation from the Civil Aviation University of China (CAUC) School of Law. Ms Tan Siew Huay, Director at the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, shared her experiences as a leading figure in international aviation law and NUS Law Sheridan Fellow Justin Lim delivered a lecture on "Singapore Environmental Regulation and ASEAN Environmental Protection". Finally, NUS Law Professor Alan Khee-Jin Tan provided his insights on environmental and aviation law.

Dr. Linda Yanti Sulistiawati, Senior Research Fellow at APCEL, moderated a high-level panel on international environmental law at the AsianSIL Conference in Hanoi on 9 October 2025. The panel discussed evolving climate obligations under international law, including recent ICJ and ITLOS advisory opinions, and featured experts from Vietnam and the Netherlands.

Following the Trump administration’s dismissal of U.S. climate negotiators and renewed withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, COP30 in Brazil faces uncertainty. Scholars urge Asian nations, including Singapore, to assume greater climate leadership. Singapore’s efforts—such as supporting the IPCC and launching the Financing Asia’s Transition Partnership—highlight its potential as a regional climate finance hub to drive renewable energy and sustainability amid waning U.S. engagement. (Translated into English)