Asian Environmental Negotiation Competition 2026

Between 17 and 19 July 2026, the NUS Environmental Law Students’ Association (“ELSA”) organised the 2026 edition of the Asian Environmental Negotiation Competition (“AENC”). First organised in 2022, the AENC is a tripartite negotiation competition jointly supported by the NUS Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law (“APCEL”) and Allen & Gledhill (“A&G”).

This year’s competition was held in-person at the Bukit Timah Campus, and featured a problem statement drafted by ELSA’s Research and Advocacy Director (AY25/26), Ng Zheng Yang. Negotiations were centred around the hypothetical development of Azania, a hyperscale data cloud centre campus, in the fictional state of Kisiwa. Teams were challenged to balance the tensions that exist between real-world commercial interests and highly topical socio-economic and ESG concerns.

The AENC 2026 was the largest AENC ever. The competition welcomed over 52 local and international 3-person teams, including teams from Thammasat University, National Law School of India University, Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University, and the University of Warsaw.

Prior to the commencement of the competition, a Registration and Networking session was held on 17 July 2026 for participants to familiarise themselves with both the competition venue and their competitors. On 18 July 2026, the competition opened with an address, delivered by ELSA Co-President (AY25/26) Mark Lui, introducing ELSA, APCEL, A&G, and the background of the AENC. He emphasised that the law and legal professionals play key roles in combatting human-led climate change and furthering global sustainability goals.

Following the address, teams progressed through a gruelling and highly competitive set of Preliminary Rounds on Day 1. The top 21 teams were then given a new set of developments as they moved on to the Quarterfinal, Semi-final, and Finals Rounds on Day 2. Participants were evaluated by a diverse array of judges, including academics, practitioners, in-house counsel, consultants, and public service officers.

Three teams, each representing one stakeholder in the negotiations, progressed to the Finals Round on 19 July 2026. The Finals Round was presided over by Ms Sim Ting, Managing Director and Head of the Corporate Services Group at GenZero, Ms Daselin Ang, Partner (Debt Capital Markets & Banking) at A&G, and Assistant Professor Arjuna Dibley, who teaches Tort Law and a specialised seminar on the Law and Economics of Climate Change at NUS Law. He is also a member of the NUS APCEL Executive Committee. The Finals Round pitted the best of the best against each other, with each team advancing their stakeholder’s interests while also balancing competing interests of economic and technological uncertainty, public opinion, financial realities, and operational transparency. Praise was high for the finalists, with the judges commenting favourably on the breadth and depth of research, team rapport, and the deft navigation of complex and realistic commercial issues.

SS14 from NUS, consisting of Dorthy Wang Ziwei, Ellery Tan and Taesha Tan Ninn, emerged as the Champions of the AENC 2026, while URK6 from the University of Warsaw, consisting of Antonia Olszewska, Mateusz Sobkowiak and Hubert Malecki, and WCKD7 from NUS, consisting of Yeo Rei Ya, Alyssa Lee Xinyi and Phua Yingjie Klare, emerged as the 1st and 2nd Runners-Up respectively. URK2 from NUS, consisting of Arjun Chhabra, Rdu Dillon and Joel Leong, and SS3 from SMU, consisting of James Jerin Akash, Justin Kan and Liu Meiju were also jointly-awarded the Spirit of Negotiation prize for their outstanding performance during the preliminary rounds.

We would like to congratulate all prize-winners and extend our heartfelt thanks to all 33 judges who graciously supported the competition with their time, experience, and invaluable insights. Additional thanks also go to Dr Justine Muller and Ms Yang Huiwen from APCEL for workshopping the problem statement, Ms Lim Lei Theng from A&G for her support and feedback, as well as the Bukit Timah Campus support staff, including Mr Paul Ravinthran, Mr Lee Wee Lip, and Ms Andrea Phua for providing administrative and technical assistance throughout the competition. Finally, we would like to thank all participating teams, especially those who travelled to Singapore, for supporting and participating in the AENC 2026.