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Conference Programme

Please note that the below is a preliminary conference program and subject to change. Information correct as at 9 March 2020.

“The Tide is High, the Time is Nigh”

Friday, 3 April 2020

 

8:30 Conference Registrations & Name Badge Collection
Ocean Verandah
9:00 – 9:40

Welcome and Opening Remarks

Welcome remarks

Mr Chunghwan Choi
President | LAWASIA
(SOUTH KOREA)

The Hon Justice Brian Preston FRSN SC
Chief Judge of the Land and Environment Court of NSW
Chair of Environmental Law Subcommittee | LAWASIA
(AUSTRALIA)

Dr Gordon Hughes AM
Chair | South Pacific Lawyers’ Association
(AUSTRALIA)

Ms Laurel Vaurasi
President | Fiji Law Society
(FIJI)

Opening address

Fiji’s New Climate Change Act

The Hon Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum MP
Attorney General
FIJI

9:40 – 11:10 SESSION 1 – Promoting Action on Climate Change
Ballroom 1 & 5 

Chair: Dr Gordon Hughes AM
Chair | South Pacific Lawyers’ Association
(AUSTRALIA)

Speakers:

1. Managing the rise of youth movements agitating for legal change

Ms Annika Reynolds
Founder | GreenLaw, Australian National University
AUSTRALIA

2. In pursuit of climate justice: Commencing the process of seeking an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on climate change and human rights

Mr Solomon Yeo
Campaign Director | Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change
SOLOMON ISLANDS

3. Comics and climate change law

Dr Leonie Kelleher
Environment and Planning Law Director | Kellehers Australia
AUSTRALIA

11:10 – 11:30 Morning Refreshments & Networking
Ocean Verandah
11:30 – 13:00 SESSION 2 – Consequences of Climate Change
Ballroom 1 & 5

Chair
: Ms Pauline Wright
President | Law Council of Australia
(AUSTRALIA)

Speakers:

1. Given current policies are steering us toward a ‘3 degree world’, what kinds of hazards, impacts, risks and disruptions should we expect, and how might and should communities, business and governments respond?

Professor Brendan Mackey
Director | Griffith Climate Change Response Program, Griffith University
AUSTRALIA

2. Climate change and its impact on constitutional and human rights law

Mr Shyam Divan
Senior Advocate | Supreme Court of India
INDIA

3. ‘The right to environment’

Professor Shaista Shameem
Dean | School of Law, University of Fiji
FIJI

4. Impacts of climate change on culture particularly language in the Torres Strait Islands

Mrs Judith Preston
PhD candidate and Lecturer | Macquarie Law School
AUSTRALIA

5. The challenge for environmental law organisations – making indigenous environmental issues matter

Mr David Morris
CEO | The Environmental Defenders Office of NSW
AUSTRALIA

Ms Fleur Ramsay
Senior Lawyer | The Environmental Defenders Office of NSW
AUSTRALIA

13:00 – 14:00 Lunch & Networking
Lagoon Restaurant
14:00 – 15:10 SESSION 3 – Adaptation to Climate Change
Ballroom 1 & 5

Chair: Ms Felicity Rourke
President | Environment and Planning Law Association (NSW)
AUSTRALIA

Speakers:

1. Legal strategies to expand community based governance in climate change adaptation: Lessons from the Pacific Islands

Professor Donna Craig
Professor of Environmental Law | Western Sydney University
AUSTRALIA

2. Climate justice and disaster law – A focus on the Pacific

Professor Rosemary Lyster
Professor of Climate and Environmental Law | The University of Sydney Law School
AUSTRALIA

3. Time and Tide Wait For No Man: A critical analysis of the success of the United Nation’s Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration for climate-change induced migrants

Ms Samantha Thorogood
Senior Law Clerk | Kellehers Australia
AUSTRALIA

15:10 – 15:30  Afternoon Refreshments & Networking
Ocean Verandah
15:30 – 17:00 SESSION 4 – The Role of the Judiciary
Ballroom 1 & 5

Chair: The Hon Justice Nicola Pain
Judge | Land and Environment Court of New South Wales
AUSTRALIA

Speakers:

1. The Environmental Rule of Law: ready access to Courts, specialist or otherwise

The Hon Judge Laurie J Newhook
Principal Environment Judge | New Zealand Environment Court
NEW ZEALAND

2. The duty of judges to protect future generations under the present rule of law, particularly with respect to green constitutions,  and the remedies available

The Hon Justice Michael D Wilson
Associate Justice | Hawaii Supreme Court
USA

3. The role of the judiciary in promoting the environmental rule of law and environmental justice

The Hon Justice Ambeng Kandakasi
Deputy Chief Justice | National and Supreme Courts
PAPUA NEW GUINEA

4. The Role of Judiciaries in advancing environmental justice including climate justice with special emphasis on Fiji’s Climate Change Bill, economic loss, corporate liability and the impact on civil litigation

The Hon Justice Deepthi Amaratunga
High Court of Fiji
FIJI

5. Outcomes of the UNEP-ADB Pacific Judiciary Conference on Environment

Mr Sefanaia Nawandra
Head | The Pacific Sub-regional Office, United Nations Environment Programme
SAMOA

Welcome Reception
Poolside, Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa
Saturday, 4 April 2020
9:00 – 10:30 SESSION 5 – Ocean Governance, Protecting the Pacific Ocean
Ballroom 1 & 5

Chair: Ms Maureen Peatman
Member of the Planning and Environment Law Group | Law Council of Australia
AUSTRALIA

Speakers:

1. From marine protected areas to marine spatial planning: how legal tools are responding to complex ocean challenges

Professor Erika Techera
Professor of Law | The University of Western Australia
AUSTRALIA

2. Ecosystem-based marine spatial planning in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park: Achievements and challenges

Professor Daud Hassan
Director | The International Centre for Ocean Governance, Western Sydney University
AUSTRALIA

Md Ashraful Alam
PhD Student | The International Centre for Ocean Governance, School of Law, Western Sydney University
AUSTRALIA

10:30 – 11:00 Morning Refreshments & Networking
Ocean Verandah
11:00 – 12:30 SESSION 6 – Protecting and Managing Marine Resources
Ballroom 1 & 5

Chair: Ratu Jo Mesake Nacola
Human Rights Officer | International Human Rights
FIJI

Speakers:

1. Can’t see the (mangrove) forest for the trees: legal and policy recognition of mangrove and wetland ecosystem services in Australia

Dr Justine Bell-James
Senior Lecturer | University of Queensland
AUSTRALIA

2. Evaluation of the international, regional and domestic legal arrangements to protect seabirds in the Pacific region

Dr Evan Hamman
Lecturer | Queensland University of Technology
AUSTRALIA

3. Protecting the marine ecosystem, law of the sea and international marine environmental law

Professor Rosemary Rayfuse
Scientia Professor | University of New South Wales
AUSTRALIA

4. The importance of regional cooperation between Pacific Island Countries for efficient fisheries management 

Mr James Sloan
Barrister
Chairman and Co-founder | Fiji Environmental Law Association
FIJI

12:30 – 13:30 Lunch & Networking
Lagoon Restaurant
13:30 – 14:40 SESSION 7 – International and National Climate Initiatives
Ballroom 1 & 5

Chair: Mr Justin Dowd AM
Vice President | LAWASIA
AUSTRALIA

Speakers:

1. Climate financing

Mr Martijn Wilder AM
Founding Partner | Pollination
Chair | Australian Renewable Energy Agency
President | WWF Australia
AUSTRALIA

2. Accessing carbon farming opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region: the role of the land sector in achieving net-zero emissions and environmental, social, cultural and economic co-benefits

Mr Guy Dwyer
Environmental Lawyer | Baker McKenzie
AUSTRALIA

Ms Sophie Whitehead
Environmental Lawyer | Baker McKenzie
AUSTRALIA

4. Accountability for Environment Harm – Is there Any?

Mr Alan Webb
Barrister | Quay Chambers
NEW ZEALAND

14:40 – 15:00 Afternoon Refreshments & Networking
Ocean Verandah
15:00 – 16:00 SESSION 8 – Sustainable, Resilient, and Inclusive Development
Ballroom 1 & 5

Chair: Ms Wati Seeto
Fiji Law Society
FIJI

Speakers:

1. Sustainable, resilient and inclusive development. What does it mean to Fiji and how can we achieve it?

Ms Kiji Vukikomoala
Fiji Environmental Law Association
FIJI

2. Environmental impact assessments and legal issues that arise

Mr Nicholas Barnes
Partner | Munro Leys Lawyers
FIJI

3. A case of place: The promise and potential of local environmental justice following Rocky Hill

Professor Amanda Kennedy
Queensland University of Technology
AUSTRALIA

Dr Brad Jessup
Melbourne Law School
AUSTRALIA

16:00 – 16:15

Closing Remarks

Dr Georgina Lloyd
Regional Coordinator | Environmental Law and Governance Asia and the Pacific Office, United Nations Environment Programme
CAMBODIA

Ms Pauline Wright
President | Law Council of Australia
AUSTRALIA

The Hon Justice Brian Preston FRSN SC
Chair of Environmental Law Subcommittee | LAWASIA
AUSTRALIA

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