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Profile
Amiel Ian Valdez is a Research Fellow at the Centre for International Law (CIL) of the National University of Singapore (NUS). He is working on the ‘Teaching and Researching International Law in Asia (TRILA)’ programme of CIL. TRILA helps in capacitating Asian scholars to be highly skilled and knowledgeable in understanding and shaping a continuously changing international law environment.
Amiel is also doing research projects and events on international environmental law, particularly in the area of climate change. He was a member of the NUS delegation at the 2019 UN climate change conference (COP25) in Madrid, Spain. He co-wrote a report on Decoding the Paris Rulebook for Southeast Asia.
Prior to joining CIL, he was an Attorney at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources of the Philippines, where he represented the Philippines at a UN session on the Global Pact for the Environment. Amiel likewise taught public international law at the De La Salle University in Manila.
His research works are focused on transboundary environmental impact assessment in Southeast Asia, climate change litigation, environmental rights, ancestral seas, rights of environmental defenders, among others.
He is an Associate Editor of the Asian Journal of International Law, and a member of the Secretariat of the Asian Society of International Law.
He is a member of the Philippine bar since 2012. He finished his Master of Environmental Law with First Class Honours in 2018 at the University of Melbourne in Australia. He earned his Juris Doctor degree in 2011 from the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law. Before studying law, in 2007, he was conferred the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Magna Cum Laude, by the University of Santo Tomas.
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Research Interests
Public International Law,
International Environmental Law,
Climate Change Law -
Selected Publications
Amiel Ian Valdez, ‘Defending the defenders: Upholding the Right to Effective Remedy of Environmental Defenders in the Philippines’, Ateneo Law Journal (forthcoming)
Amiel Ian Valdez, ‘Balancing the Indigenous Peoples’ Sea Rights, and the State’s Obligation to Protect and Preserve Marine Environment: A Comparative Study of the Philippine and Australian Approaches’, Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law 23, 1 (2022): 47-79
Amiel Ian Valdez, ‘A Continuing Mandamus to Enforce Rights to Adequate Housing in the Era of Super Typhoons’, (2021) 24(1) Asia-Pacific Journal of Environmental Law, 120-144
Sharon Seah and Amiel Ian Valdez, Decoding the Paris Rulebook for Southeast Asia: Implementation and Its Challenges (Report, 2019) ISBN 978-981-14-4240-7
Amiel Ian Valdez, ‘Beyond the Arbitral Ruling: A Transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment in the South China Sea’ (2019) 9 Asian Journal of International Law 251
Amiel Ian Valdez, ‘The Paradox of the Salvage Zone: Examining the Philippine Coastal Adaptation Framework in the Light of Tropical Cyclones and Threats of Sea Level Rise’ (Working Paper, Centre for Resources, Energy and Environmental Law, Law School, The University of Melbourne, June 2018)
Editorial works
Indonesian Journal of International Law Special Issue on ‘Teaching and Researching International Law in Asia’ (forthcoming)
Teaching and Researching International Law in Asia (TRILA) Viet Nam Outcome Report (2022)
Teaching and Researching International Law in Asia (TRILA) Malaysia Outcome Report (2022)
Teaching and Researching International Law in Asia (TRILA) Indonesia Outcome Report (2021)
TRILA e-Newsletter | February 2020 (Issue 1: Cambodia)
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Others
Events and Capacity-Building Initiatives organised
Junior Scholar Writing Workshop: Towards Publication (online), 2022 Asian Society of International Law Regional Conference – Nepal (29 July 2022)
TRILA Thailand (online) Workshop (3-4 March 2022) <>
TRILA Central Asia (online) Workshop (21, 23, 25 February 2022)
TRILA Philippines (online) Conference (1-3 July 2021)
2021 International Law Year in Review (online) Conference (25 June 2021)
Foundation Course (online) on the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (26-27 April 2021)
TRILA Viet Nam (online) Workshop (7-8 April 2021)
TRILA Malaysia (online) Workshop (3-5 March 2021)
CIL TRILA-Afronomicslaw Blog Symposium on ‘Teaching and Researching International Law – Global Perspectives’ (14 September to 02 October 2020)
TRILA Indonesia (online) Workshop, ‘Towards Publication’ (01-03 July 2020) <>
TRILA Myanmar Workshop (24-25 July 2019 in Heho, Shan State, Myanmar)