[SMULA-ESLC-SSFI] The Role of Law in Advancing Climate Action and Biodiversity Protection

What is the role of law in mitigating irreparable damage to Planet Earth? How can we bridge the gap between climate action, biodiversity conservation and the prevailing anthropocentrism of the status quo? This panel brings together experts in environmental law, biodiversity conservation, and corporate legal practice to reflect on how the law can be effectively utilised for ecological efforts in today’s complex and volatile world. Discussion will range from legal imagination and comparative environmental law analyses, to the intersection between climate action and biodiversity protection.

This panel dialogue is co-organised by the Singapore Management University (SMU) Environment and Sustainability Law Club (ESLC), the Singapore Sustainable Futures Initiative (SSFI), and the SMU Law Academy (SMULA).
 
 

SPEAKERS

Professor Liz Fisher
Professor Liz Fisher is a Professor of Environmental Law at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, with a BA/LLB from UNSW and a DPhil from Oxford. Her research examines how legal reasoning shapes public administration and environmental law. Professor Fisher has authored key works, including Risk Regulation and Administrative Constitutionalism and Environmental Law: A Very Short Introduction. She has received prestigious awards such as the SLS Peter Birks Prize and the ABA Administrative Law Scholarship Award. An Overseas Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law, Professor Fisher is also a recognized educator and was Vice Dean of the Law Faculty at Oxford.

 

Dr Lena Chan
Dr Lena Chan is an ecologist with over forty years of experience in biodiversity conservation and urban ecology.

Lena worked for the National Parks Board (NParks) of Singapore from 1997 to 2023.  She helped setup the National Biodiversity Centre and the Sisters' Islands Marine Park, initiated the biodiversity impact assessment process in Singapore, led the drafting of the Nature Conservation Masterplan, co-edited a journal supplement on a comprehensive biodiversity survey of the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and a Handbook on Habitat Restoration on case studies in Singapore. 

At the international arena, Lena co-authored the Handbook on the Singapore Index on Cities' Biodiversity, was the Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum Global Commission on BiodiverCities by 2030, participated in the first joint IPBES-IPCC workshop on biodiversity and climate, and played a pivotal role in setting up the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity.

Lena was in a team from World Wide Fund Malaysia that carried out the Conservation Strategy for Malaysia from 1981 to 1987.

Lena has published  papers on ecology, cities and biodiversity, parasitology, and book chapters on urban conservation biology. She obtained her M. Sc. from McGill University and Ph. D. from Imperial College, London. Since retiring from NParks in September 2023, Lena continues to give lectures and keynote addresses. She also partakes on an advisory role in research projects pertaining to ecology and biodiversity conservation.  

Lena was awarded a Good Stories Movement Certificate of Global Gratitude Singapore on 29 July 2024 and given an award from the Ministry of National Development on 15 November 2024.
 

Dr. Joseph Chun
Dr. Joseph Chun is an environmental lawyer, and leads the ESG practice at Shook Lin & Bok. With a strong commitment to sustainability, he is a member of the Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law, and serves in multiple ESG and conservation bodies. Dr. Chun also teaches environmental law as an adjunct associate professor at the National University of Singapore. His work bridges law, policy, and responsible investment to drive sustainable development, corporate accountability, and environmental stewardship.
 

Mr Dan Perera
Dan is an international arbitration partner with leading multi-national disputes firm, HFW, based in Singapore. He is admitted as a Solicitor Advocate in England & Wales; in New York; and in Australia, and has a truly global practice, led out of Singapore since 2010. Dan is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a panel arbitrator with a number of leading institutions globally. He acts as lead lawyer; as counsel; and sits as arbitrator. 

Dan specialises in handling disputes and risk management matters relating to energy and the energy transition, resources, carbon, ESG and technology, and is a member of the advisory board of the AI Asia Pacific Institute. He has conducted high-value arbitrations under a broad range of major institutional rules, and ad hoc arbitrations seated in several jurisdictions. Dan is also an experienced mediation practitioner, having successfully mediated numerous complex disputes.

 

Mr Tiong Teck Wee 
Mr Tiong Teck Wee is a Partner in the Commercial & Corporate Disputes Practice and International Arbitration Practice, and is also the Co-Head of the Sustainability & Responsible Business Practice at WongPartnership LLP. 

His main areas of practice are in complex, high-value, cross-border, multi-jurisdictional commercial and corporate disputes, representing global MNCs, State-owned entities, public and private corporations, and high net-worth individuals from various jurisdictions both before the Singapore Courts and in international arbitrations. 

In his capacity as the Co-Head of the Sustainability & Responsible Business Practice, Teck Wee advises clients on a range of ESG and sustainability-related matters such as greenwashing, ESG related disputes and climate-related litigation, directors’ duties and liabilities in the ESG space, and carbon credits and carbon trading. Teck Wee also regularly contributes to publications (such as Mondaq, ICLG, IFLR, the Singapore Institute of Directors bulletin) and speaks at seminars and conferences on ESG and sustainability-related issues. Teck Wee was recently named as one of ALB’s Rising Stars Singapore 2024, and is also recognised in the Legal 500 as one of the Firm’s key lawyers in dispute resolution.

 

Krystal Tan 
Krystal is a second-year LL.B. undergraduate at Singapore Management University (SMU) Yong Pung How School of Law. After doing research projects relating to fast fashion and sustainable finance, her interest in the intersection between law and sustainability was piqued. Together with Xin Yu and the founding team, they started the SMU Environmental & Sustainability Law Club (SMU ESLC) in 2024 to provide a dedicated platform to engage and empower students to tackle environmental and sustainability issues. As the President of SMU ESLC, she focused on the conceptualisation of the club’s missions, goals and structure, and oversees the initiatives put out by the club – ranging from raising awareness on issues within the space, to empowering students to understand the relevance of sustainability in their future legal careers. 


Ng Xin Yu 
Xin Yu is a final-year LL.B. undergraduate at Singapore Management University (SMU) Yong Pung How School of Law. An internship stint in climate change policy first piqued her interest in the legal frameworks facilitating international cooperation. Since then, her passion for international law and environmental governance has grown. Having represented SMU in moots, including in the World Finals of the 28th Stetson International Environmental Moot Court Competition, she is currently furthering her academic interests in international environmental law, international humanitarian law, and human-nature interrelations. As the Vice President of SMU ESLC, she co-leads the founding team in student-initiated discourse on pertinent legal and ecological issues, while bridging connections between peers and practitioners. As an aspiring advocate, she believes that the law is but one of the many tools needed to promote a sustainable future for all, and looks forward to hearing diverse perspectives.



 

FEES