Ms Danielle Yeow
Adjunct Senior Research Fellow / Lead, Climate Change Law and Policy
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Profile
Danielle leads on climate change law and policy as well as cyber law and governance issues at the CIL. She is also an Adjunct Associate Professor (MSc (Environmental Management) Programme) at the National University of Singapore where she teaches a course on Environmental and Sustainability Management – Law, Governance and Practice. Danielle YEOW – NUS Law
Danielle is a member of the Singapore Domain Name Dispute Policy Panel, Singapore Mediation Centre and a member of the International Law Association (ILA) Business and Human Rights Committee. She was formerly the Deputy Director General of the International Affairs Division of the Singapore Attorney-General’s Chambers; and Deputy Chief Executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore. She also served as a Council Member of the Singapore branch of the ILA between 1st Jan 2017 and 31 Dec 2023.
Danielle’s experience spans across a range of public international law issues including trade and investment, environment and climate change, international security including international cyber norms, human rights, law of the sea and sanctions and compliance matters. She has advised and represented the Singapore Government at international negotiations and dispute resolution. Danielle was lead counsel in multiple negotiations at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade negotiations. In the same capacity, she also helmed recent UNFCC and Paris Agreement climate change talks and a WTO panel proceeding (as a third party). In addition, she was an advisor to the Singapore government in the Case concerning Land Reclamation by Singapore in and around the Straits of Johor (Malaysia v Singapore) before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.
Danielle is a member of the panel of arbitrators appointed under the UK-Singapore Free Trade Agreement and was recently appointed as panelist in a dispute under the WTO. She served as an elected alternate member of the Implementation and Compliance Committee established under the Paris Agreement (Jan 2020 – July 2021) to promote compliance and facilitate the implementation of the Paris Agreement. She chaired the General Assembly of Parties to the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks, World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) in 2009 and was appointed a WIPO expert on mission in 2009. In addition, Danielle was a member of the Genetic Modification Advisory Committee established by the Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry (2016 to July 2021); and a Member of the Intellectual Property Hub Master Plan (Singapore) Steering Committee and Co-Chair of Subcommittee 2 appointed by the Singapore Ministry of Law.
Danielle’s previous roles included that of Deputy Chief Executive/Deputy Director-General at the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, District Judge, Justices’ Law Clerk and criminal prosecutor.
Danielle is admitted as an Advocate & Solicitor (Supreme Court of Singapore) and Barrister-at-Law (England & Wales) (Middle Temple). She is a Senior Advisor with DGA – Albright Stonebridge Group and a Consultant with KGP Legal (member of the Inter-Asia Law Alliance).
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Appointments
Danielle also has expertise on international cyber law issues and was appointed a seminar co-leader of the “The Applicability of International Law to State Behaviour in Cyberspace Course”, at the George C. Marshall European Centre for Security Studies, Aug 2018, Germany. She was a speaker/trainer at the inaugural ICAO Civil Aviation Legal Advisors Forum, Singapore on “International Cyber Norms and Cybersecurity Discussions”, May 2019; UN-Singapore Cyber Fellowship Programme, August 2022 on “International Cyber Law” and Evolving Face of Cyber Conflict and International Law: A Futurespective Conference on “Regional Perspectives”, American University, Washington College of Law, Washington, DC, 15-17 June 2022. Danielle also convenes the US-ASEAN Cyber and Digital Dialogue series together Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.
She was a speaker at the Centre of International Law Year in Review Conference 2019 on “How International Law Remains Critical in Singapore Today”, Mar 2019 and the American Society of International Law Annual Meeting panel on “International Courts as a Counterweight to Power Assymmetries” in Mar 2019.
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Research Interests
- International Environment and Climate Change Law
- Public International Law
- International Economic Law
- Human Rights
- Cyber
- Sanctions and Compliance
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Selected Publications
- White Paper on One Health and International Law, International Law Association (150th anniversary), Dec 2022; Member, Steering Committee and contributor Health – Ila Paris 2023
- CIL Blog Post – Climate Change and Fashion Supply Chains: Translating Aspirations into Meaningful Corporate Climate Action? Danielle Yeow and Brian Chang, Aug 2022 Climate Change and Fashion Supply Chains
- CIL Blog Post – Carbon Reporting and Science Based Targets: Precursors to Effective Corporate Climate Action?, Danielle Yeow and Brian Chang July 2022 Carbon Reporting and Science-based Targets
- Railla Puno and Danielle Yeow, Health Equity under the UNFCCC in Converging Paths: Global Governance for Climate Justice and Health Equity, published by Observer Research Foundation 2023
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Conference Presentations
Danielle is regularly invited to speak on a range of public international law issues.
Recent engagements on climate change law and policy issues include:
- panelist, “Role of Stakeholders in the Global Stocktake”, “The Global Stocktake and International Law: Paradigm, Process and Ambition” conference, Durham University Law School, 22 -23 June 2023
- speaker, “Sharm El-Sheikh to Dubai – How Goes the Fight of our Lives/?”, NUS Masters of Science in Environmental Management programme seminar series, 17 Mar 2023
- lecturer, “Interactions between UNCLOS and UNCCC and COP27 update”, MFA-SCP programme on Law of the Sea and Climate Change, 7 Mar 2023
- panelist, “Climate change disputes – international arbitration perspectives and solutions”, ICC – Make Climate Action Everyone’s Business Forum, 17 Nov 2022
- panelist, “Collaboration in Research and Education” Centre for Sustainable Development Law and Policy Centre for International Law at National University of Singapore (Earthday.org), COP27 Education Hub, 14 Nov 2022
- panelist, “Singapore’s Climate Action”, 17th Policy Consultation Forum of the Seoul Initiative Network on Green Growth (hybrid), Bangkok, (ESCAP and Ministry of the Envt, Korea), 1 Nov 2022
- panelist, CIL-Durham-UNFCCC workshop: Global Stock Take, 7 Oct 2022
- trainer, CIL – E-Training on Law of the Sea – “Climate Change and Law of the Sea” (lecturer), 10 June 2022
- speaker, University of Durhan – Law and Global Justice programme – “COP26 roadmap and road to COP27” (speaker) – 31 Mar 2022
- trainer, “Interaction between UNCLOS and the Climate Change regime and COP26 update”, CIL – E-Training on Climate Change and Law of the Sea, 8 Feb 2022
- panelist, “Climate Change Related Disputes and their Resolution through Arbitration/ADR”, International Chamber of Commerce – Making Climate Action Everyone’s Business Forum, 12 Nov 2021
- Speaker, on “The Role of Stakeholders” in a conference on “The Global Stocktake and International Law: Paradigm, Process and Ambition”, organized by the Durham University Durham Law School, 22-23 June 2023
Recent speaking engagements on trade and investment related issues include :-
- “Current Issues in FTAs” – Masterclass: Understanding why Singapore’s Network of FTAs are Relevant to Legal Practice”, Singapore Law Society, Oct 2022
- “Disputes Managements by States: The ECT’s Model Instrument in Practice”, Energy Charter Treaty Conference on, 20 Nov 2019.
- “Evolution of a golden age? Dispute settlement for tomorrow’s world”, launch of the Singapore office of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, 19 Nov 2019
- “Update and Assessment of Negotiations, Explorations and Reform Discussions in the WTO”, G2 Annual Conference on WTO and Global Economic Regulation roundtable panel, 8 June 2019, Geneva
- “Mega-Regional Trade Agreements – The Way Forward?”, Hague Academy External Programme, Nov 2018
- Panelist, “Climate change disputes – international arbitration perspectives and solutions”, ICC – Make Climate Action Everyone’s Business Forum, 17 Nov 22
- Panelist, “Climate Change related disputes and their Resolution through Arbitration/ADR” ICC – Making Climate Action Everyone’s Business Forum. 12 Nov 22
Recent Engagements on Public International Law related issues include :-
- Danielle Yeow, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, participated in an invitation only closed-door roundtable on “Countermeasures in Cyberspace”, convened by Chatham House under the Cyberspace4All Project, on 22 May 2023. The meeting discussed, among others, the status and content of the law of countermeasures as applied in cyberspace.