APCEL at the 2022 IUCN Academy of Environmental Law Colloquium

From 12 July 2022 to 15 July 2022, six of APCEL’s researchers attended and presented their work at the 2022 IUCN Academy of Environmental Law Colloquium.

On Day 1, Dr. Linda Yanti Sulistiawati (Senior Research Fellow) presented her research project, ‘Climate Change Litigation in Indonesia: Dawn of a New Beginning’. Her research identifies environmental cases in Indonesia according to the ‘core-periphery’ model for climate change litigation case classification and explains how the culture and practice of climate change litigation has been developing in Indonesia even if this is not obvious on the surface.

On Day 2, Dr. Tara Davenport (Deputy Director) and Mark Ortega (Visiting Researcher) presented their work on ‘The Common Heritage of Humankind Principle as the basis of Environmental Governance’ and ‘Intuition and Pragmatism in Environmental Decision-Making’ respectively.

In her presentation, Tara gave an overview of how the Common Heritage of Humankind (CHH) principle developed and was implemented in the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the tension between intergenerational equity (the preservation of natural resources for future generations) and intra-generational equity (the benefits to current generations and particular developing states through the exploitation of natural resources). She concluded that we are still in need of a better articulation of the benefits to mankind provided by the CHH principle and that it goes beyond wealth distribution; it should take an ecological view that recognises the value of oceans as performing vital ecological functions.

In his presentation, Mark traced evidence of intuition and pragmatism in decisions from the New South Wales Land and Environmental Court. Using those case studies as inspiration for recommendations to improve environmental decision-making (EDM) in Singapore, Mark argued that intuition is intrinsic in EDM and should be structured into EDM’s design; and that pragmatism should be used in a philosophical rather than literal sense to encourage democratic engagement.

On Day 3, Dr. Sroyon Mukherjee (Research Fellow) presented his research on ‘How Much Should the Polluter Pay: Indian Courts and the Valuation of Environmental Damage’. He explored a critical analysis of various pollution cases decided by Indian courts, observing that these decisions tended to focus on what valuation method to use rather than the more fundamental question of what values should be measured to price pollution. He opined that while the law should take science into account, we cannot leave everything to the scientists; judges and regulators have their own expertise that can be useful to help deal with setting and enforcing a price on pollution.

In another panel, Selene Tanne (Research Assistant) presented her comparative research project entitled, ‘The Function and Form of Climate-Related Disclosures: A Comparative Case Study of Singapore and the UK’. She explained the intended rationale and significance of having companies produce climate-related disclosures (CRD), such as changing company behaviour and encouraging more capital to be directed towards net-zero economic activities. She also shared her findings from her comparative analysis of CRD requirements in UK and Singapore Securities Laws, arguing that regulators must play an active role in setting clear guidance and building private actors’ capacities for climate reporting and the net-zero transition generally.

To finish the third day, Dr. Jolene Lin (Director) chaired the Women’s Energy and Climate Law Network (WECLN) Climate Change Litigation panel. She was also a panellist and co-presented her work on ‘Climate Change Litigation in the Global South’ with Professor Jacqueline Peel of Melbourne Law School. It was a highly engaging panel that addressed several issues, including analyses of how jurisprudence in environmental law cases has developed, and how climate change litigation is not just a phenomenon exclusive to the Global North but continues to grow in the Global South.

You may find the presentation slides of the speakers below :

• The Common Heritage of Humankind Principle as the basis of Environmental Governance – Dr. Tara Davenport
• Intuition and Pragmatism in Environmental Decision-Making – Mark Ortega
• How Much Should the Polluter Pay: Indian Courts and the Valuation of Environmental Damage – Dr. Sroyon Mukherjee
• The Function and Form of Climate-Related Disclosures: A Comparative Case Study of Singapore and the UK – Selene Tanne
• Climate Change Litigation in the Global South – Dr. Jolene Lin