Asia-Pacific Judicial Conference on Climate Change Adjudication: Trends and Impacts

Registration

Inaugural Session

Facilitator: Mr. Krishan Prasad, Deputy Registrar (Legal), Supreme Court of Fiji

Traditional Welcoming Ceremony

Welcome Remarks by the Supreme Court of Fiji
Justice Kamal Kumar, Acting Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Fiji

Keynote Address
Mr. Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, Attorney-General and Minister for Economy and Climate Change, Fiji

Group Photo

Tea Break

Remarks from the Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Ms. Cathy Marsh, Assistant General Counsel, ADB

Remarks from United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment)
Mr. Andrew Raine, Head, International Environmental Law Unit, Law Division, UN Environment

Technical Session 1
Focus on the Pacific: Regional Environmental and Climate Change Issues

Facilitator: Mr. Andrew Raine, Head, International Environmental Law Unit, Law Division, UN Environment

1. Fiji’s Climate Challenges: Legal Frameworks, Policies, and Issues - Mr. Shivanal Kumar, Climate Change Adaptation Specialist, Climate Change Unit, Ministry of Economy, Fiji
2. Climate Justice and Disasters: A Pacific Perspective - Prof. Rosemary Lyster, Professor of Climate and Environmental Law, University of Sydney Law School and Director, Australian Centre for Climate and Environmental Law
3. Climate Change Updates: Paris Agreement, Rulebook, and Recent Developments - Ms. Maria Cecilia T. Sicangco, Climate Change Law and Policy Specialist (Consultant), ADB
4. Three Little Pigs: Make Friends and Save the Climate - Ms. Briony Eales, Climate Change Law and Policy Specialist (Consultant), ADB

10 minutes for each presentation and 30 minutes for Q&A

Lunch Break

Technical Session 2
Emerging Issues on Climate Change - Gender Front

Facilitator: Ms. Briony Eales, Climate Change Law and Policy Specialist (Consultant), ADB

1. Gender Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction and Management - Justice Robyn Layton, Former Judge, Supreme Court of South Australia
2. Climate Migration and Regional Approaches to Migration: Saving Lives and Preserving Culture, Heritage, and Identity - Ms. Sarah Queblatin, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Green Releaf Initiative, Inc.
3. Climate Impacts on Vulnerable Groups: Focus on Asia and the Pacific - Ms. Irum Ahsan, Principal Counsel, Law and Policy Reform, ADB
4. One Billion Rising: A Perspective on How Climate Change Impacts Women and Girls? - Ms. Monique Wilson, Actress and Director, One Billion Rising

10 minutes for each presentation and 30 minutes for Q&A

Technical Session 3
Coastal Management, Healthy Oceans and Nature

Facilitator: Mr. Sefanaia Nawadra, Head, UN Environment Pacific Office

1. Plastic Pollution in Oceans: Regional Focus and Judicial Strategies - Ms. Maria-Goreti Muavesi, Senior Environmental Legal Officer, Oceania Regional Office, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
2. Legal Barriers to Community Based, Low-Impact, Conservation Focused Tourism - Mr. Kasi Taukeinikoro and Mr. Colin Philp, Co-Chairs, Duavata Sustainable Tourism Collective, Fiji
3. Regional Approaches to Protecting Reefs and Ocean Resources - Ms. Anna Oposa, Executive Director, Save Philippine Seas

10 minutes for each presentation and 30 minutes for Q&A

Technical Session 4
Climate Litigation - Trends and Impacts

Facilitator: Mr. Matthew Baird, Director, Asian Research Institute on Environmental Law

1. Judges and Climate Change: Role and Responsibility - Justice Antonio Herman Benjamin Superior Tribunal de Justicia, Brazil (Video Presentation)
2. Climate Change Litigation: The Fight Heats Up - Ms. Briony Eales, Climate Change Law and Policy Specialist (Consultant), ADB
3. Redress for Climate Change Impacts on Human Rights: Carbon Majors Example - Ms. Grizelda “Gerthie” Mayo-Anda, Executive Director, Environmental Legal Assistance Center and Professorial Lecturer, Palawan State University College of Law
4. Best Judicial Practices from South and Southeast Asia: Cases and Green Courts - Mr. Ritwick Dutta Environmental Lawyer and Managing Trustee, Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment, India

10 minutes for each presentation and 30 minutes for Q&A

Tea Break

Breakout Session
Sustainable Judicial Capacity in the Pacific for Adjudicating Environment and Climate Change Cases: Working towards a Regional Strategy

Facilitator: Mr. Andrew Raine, Head, International Environmental Law Unit, Law Division, UN Environment
Mr. Matthew Baird, Director, Asian Research Institute on Environmental Law

Participants will break out into smaller groups facilitated by the experts to discuss the topic. Groups will then report back to the Plenary.

• Setting up a judicial secondment/exchange programme between Asia, Pacific, and other jurisdictions;
• Developing or tailoring a Pacific-focused judicial training manual for national judicial academies, to the extent they exist;
• Establishing the first Pacific judicial network on environmental law or integrating Pacific judges into existing networks, such as the Asian Judges Network on Environment and the Global Judicial Institute on the Environment;
• Establishing green benches in the Pacific;
• Forward thinking: discussing about a possible Pacific Environmental Tribunal to act as mediator or arbitrator in major investment disputes (e.g., Belt and Road Initiative and other infrastructure developments); and
• Impediments to environmental and climate justice in the Pacific.

45 minutes for the breakout group discussions and 30 minutes for the group leaders’ reporting before the plenary

Lunch Break

Technical Session 5
Climate Litigation - Trends and Impacts

Facilitator: Ms. Maria Cecilia T. Sicangco, Climate Change Law and Policy Specialist (Consultant), ADB

1. Sustainable Infrastructure Development for Small Island Developing States - Ms. Sonia Chand Sandhu, Principal Knowledge Sharing and Services Specialist, ADB
2. Sustainability of Climate Mitigation and Adaptation: Resource Depletion - Ms. Sarah Khan, Award Winning Film Maker and Student, Oxford University
3. Sustainable Energy: Carbon Neutrality and Renewables in the Asia-Pacific - Mr. Sanjay Upadhyay, Founder and Managing Partner, Enviro Legal Defence Firm, India
4. Behavior Change for Climate Action: Community as Driver of Change - Mr. Gene Blackley, Founder and Climate Solutions Advocate, Drawdown Australia

10 minutes for each presentation and 30 minutes for Q&A

Plenary Session
Judicial Cooperation and Way Forward

Facilitator: Mr. Andrew Raine, Head, International Environmental Law Unit, Law Division, UN Environment
Mr. Matthew Baird, Director, Asian Research Institute on Environmental Law

Panel or roundtable discussion to (i) discuss the Breakout Session’s outcomes and (ii) list 3 key actions for the future

Open discussion with the Panelists and the Participants

Tea Break

Closing Session

Closing Remarks by the Supreme Court of Fiji
Justice Kamal Kumar
Acting Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Fiji

Remarks from the Asian Development Bank
Irum Ahsan
Principal Counsel, Law and Policy Reform, ADB

Remarks from from UN Environment
Mr. Sefanaia Nawadra
Head, UN Environment Pacific Office