Researchers' Activities

Senior Research Fellow Denise Cheong and Research Associate Nivedita S participated in the webinar on ‘Role of Academia in Shaping the Energy Transition in ASEAN’ organised by the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) on 24 February 2021.

Recent scientific information presents an alarming diagnosis of the multiple adverse consequences of climate change on the ocean: levels of  ocean acidification not seen in millions of years, changes in ocean chemistry, warming temperatures and deoxygenation threating marine life, in particular coral reefs; and rapidly melting glaciers and ice sheets challenging the survival of some island States and threatening  existing maritime boundaries and entitlements.  

There are two different applicable international regimes, one for the ocean and the other for climate change.  Yet neither has a clear mandate for the ocean-climate nexus. The 1982 United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea, often referred to as the Constitution for the oceans, negotiated before climate change emerged on the international agenda, makes no reference to climate change. The 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, with a clear mandate for atmospheric climate change, limits the role of the ocean to serving as sink or reservoir for greenhouse gases.  The 2015 Paris Agreement added little more other than a preambular reference to ocean ecosystems.

The lecture delivered by Dr Oral examined how these two principal legal regimes can meet the test for international law in providing a dialectic and evolutive response to the pressing challenges of the climate-ocean nexus.

A copy of the presentation can be assessed at the link: https://www.lcil.cam.ac.uk/sites/www.law.cam.ac.uk/files/images/www.lcil.law.cam.ac.uk/Image/events/nilufer_oral_presentation_190221.pdf

A recording of the lecture is available at: https://www.lcil.cam.ac.uk/friday-lunchtime-lecture-series-recordings

Senior Research Fellow Denise Cheong and Research Associate Nivedita S participated in the webinar on ‘Energy and Climate Outlook in ASEAN under Brunei’s Chairmanship: Green Recovery Post Pandemic’ organised by the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) on 17 February 2021.

Research Associate Nivedita S participated in the International Atomic Energy Agency’s webinar on ‘Experiences of Member States in Building Regulatory Framework for the Oversight of Nuclear Power Plants’ on 17 February 2021.

Senior Research Fellow Denise Cheong and Research Associate Nivedita S attended the annual meeting of the OSPAR’s Radioactive Substances Committee (RSC) held from 9 to 11 February 2021.

The law of the sea is a scholarly discipline that straddles many aspects of general international law and of its specialized branches including environmental law, human rights law, the law of international courts and tribunals. The law of the sea is also an expanding field for practice, not limited to university research and teaching, but including advocacy in international and domestic courts, counselling for governments, international organizations governmental and non-governmental, and private entities, working as judges and registry member for international courts and arbitration tribunals.

UC Berkeley School of Law is pleased to invite Professor Tullio Treves to speak at this year’s Harry and Jane Scheiber Lecture Series. Prof Treves is Professor Emeritus at the State University of Milan and Public International Law Senior Consultant at Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP (Milan office). He served as Judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea from 1996 to 2011. Within the Tribunal, he was the President of the Seabed Disputes Chamber, including in the proceedings for the delivery, on 1 February 2011, of an Advisory Opinion upon the request of the Council of the International Seabed Authority. He has chaired the Tribunal’s Committee of the Whole for the drafting of the Rules of the Tribunal. From 1973 to 1982, he was a member of the Italian delegation to all sessions of the Third United Nations Conference on Law of the Sea.

Dr Nilufer Oral and Lt. Cmdr. Joel Coito were both invited to give their comments at the lecture titled “The Law of the Sea: A Multi-Faceted Discipline and a Promising Field for Practitioner”.

A recording of the Berkeley Law Scheiber Lecture on 4 Feb is now available on their website at: https://www.kaltura.com/index.php/extwidget/preview/partner_id/1368891/uiconf_id/41443412/entry_id/1_f6recvt2/embed/iframe?

The Trump presidency has had a consequential impact on the United States’ international relations and its role in international institutions. Hallmarks of President Trump’s Asia policy included labelling China as a hostile power, abandoning the Trans-Pacific Partnership, using trade sanctions even against allies such as Australia, Japan, and South Korea, and dallying with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. Professors José E. Alvarez and Nilufer Oral discussed the impact Trump has had on U.S.-Asia relations and the constraints President Biden will face as he tries to strengthen ties with key Asian allies and partners while maintaining pressure on China.

A recording of the online event can be accessed at the link: https://usali.org/institute-news/event-recording-us-asia-relations-in-the-biden-administration

Dita spoke at the Special Session on Young Leaders’ Perspective and co-led a discussion on the “ASEAN’s Post-2025 Vision: What are the Roles ASEAN is Expected to Play in the South China Sea” at the Next-Generation Leaders Session.

Senior Research Fellow Denise Cheong and Research Associate Nivedita S were invited to present to the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency’s (NEA) Working Party on Nuclear Liability and Transport (WPNLT).

When the 1982 United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea was adopted, climate change was not an issue of concern for the international community. Consequently, the Convention does not make mention to climate change or its consequences. When the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was adopted a decade later, the adverse consequences of climate change on the ocean and marine environment were not fully understood. However, in recent years scientists have discovered that climate change is having significant adverse impacts on the ocean, such as ocean warming, deoxygenation, chemistry change, ocean acidification and sea level rise.

Dr Nilüfer Oral’s lecture examined the existing frameworks in relation to protection of the marine environment under the 1982 UNCLOS and climate change under the 1992 UNFCCC regime. The lecture will identify the gaps within each regime, the gaps between the two regimes and how synergies may be developed to address the important climate risks to the health of the ocean.

The session is moderated by Stephen Minas, Associate Professor at Peking University School of Transnational Law.

CIL Research Fellow, Dawoon Jung, presented online at the 5th International Conference on Ocean Law and Policy – Policy, Law, Economy, and Risks of Offshore Wind Power Energy on 11 Dec 2020.

On Human Rights Day, Thursday 10 December 2020, Dr Tan Hsien-Li and Professor Alison Duxbury (University of Melbourne) discussed their co-authored book ‘Can ASEAN Take Human Rights Seriously’.

The Land-to-Ocean Leadership Programme is a three-year research and capacity-building programme sponsored by the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (SwAM) and the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure of Germany.

The Programme aims to promote land-to-ocean leadership opportunities in the broader context of implementing the Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and in recognition of the interconnectivity of Land-to-Ocean-flows. In order to develop governance and sustainable management options that are practically oriented yet responsive to dynamic processes, the programme will foster a better understanding of the interconnected character of terrestrial, aquatic and marine ecosystems flowing from source to sea.

The main purpose of this interactive seminar is to engage with a wider expert group to provide comments on the four PhD candidate research projects. A further objective is to provide an update on the progress made with their research programme to date. This event is organized by the World Maritime University and supported by the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management and the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure.

For more info on the seminar and the programme, please visit the website:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UEQ8aE1V8SW1u06LCPQ_RBfgXE7JidjM/view

Senior Research Fellow Denise Cheong and Research Associate Nivedita S were invited to participate in the eighth session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Espoo Convention.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea held the Fifth International Conference on the Law of the Sea from December 3 to 4, 2020. The International Conference on the Law of the Sea has been held since 2016 to discuss the latest trends and progress in the research on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which regulates the peaceful usage of the sea and fair and effective utilization of its resources, and on the jurisprudence of relevant international organizations.

The theme for this year’s conference is Regional Cooperation and Marine Environmental Protection under the UNCLOS Regime. The first session of the conference covered the topic on “Duty of Cooperation under the UNCLOS Regime”. Dr Oral spoke on “The duty to cooperate under Part XII of UNCLOS and the protection and conservation of biological diversity beyond national jurisdiction”.

Other speakers who spoke alongside with Dr Oral include Amb. Markiyan Kulyk (ITLOS), Prof LEE Seok-Woo (Inha University), Judge Oscar Cabello Sarubbi (ITLOS) and Prof KIM Hyun Jung (Yonsei University).

This conference is co-organised with International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea and The Korean Society of International Law. For more information on the conference: https://www.icls.or.kr:43722/main/index.php

From 7 to 18 December 2020, The new United Nations Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights, Marcos Orellana, will hold an institutional visit to the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

In view of his upcoming visit to the IMO, the Special Rapporteur, Dr  Marcos A. Orellana, invited stakeholders of the mandate, including civil society organizations, defenders of human rights and academics, to an online, focused stakeholders’ consultation on the IMO and implications for toxics and human rights.

Dr Oral was one of the experts invited to participate in the consultation, which aimed to inform the Special Rapporteur’s in preparation of his visit. It assessed and analyzed the work of the IMO in order to identify current issues and areas of improvement, as well as good practices.

More info at: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Environment/ToxicWastes/Pages/SRToxicWastesIndex.aspx

Dr Oral spoke at the Fourth Brazilian Congress of the Law of the Sea (IV Congresso Brasileiro de Direito do Mar), which was held online from 26 to 28 November. The event was co-organised by the Center for Studies in Law of the Sea (CEDMAR) at University of São Paulo and the Brazilian Academy of International Law (ABDI).

Dr Oral spoke on THE CURRENT STATE OF NEGOTIATIONS ON MGRS FOR THE BBNJ AGREEMENT.

Dita was a member of the delegation for the Advisory Committee on Protection of the Sea (ACOPS), a Non-Governmental Organisations in a Consultative Status with the IMO.

Dr Tan Hsien-Li spoke at the “Asian Legislative Experts Symposium (ALES) – Legislations on Infectious Diseases and cooperative measures of Asia countries in the post COVID-19 era”.

Dr Nilüfer Oral spoke at the online conference titled Pandemics and International Law: The Need for International Action, on 18 November. The event was  co-organised by Washington College of Law and its Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law; the Centre for International Law; the Vietnamese National University, Hanoi, School of Law; the Autonomous University of Lisbon; the Florida International University College of Law; and the WCL chapter of the International Law Student Association.

Dr Oral spoke alongside Professor Patrícia Galvão Teles, Professor Claudio Grossman, Professor Charles C Jalloh and Professor Nguyễn Hồng Thao. The event was moderated by Professor Claudia Martin.

On the occasion of the inter-sessional period in the negotiations of an international legally binding agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction – BBNJ, Dr Nilüfer Oral spoke at an online panel discussion on ‘A Dispute Settlement Mechanism for the BBNJ Instrument’. The event was organised by the Permanent Mission of Colombia to the United Nations and the Independent International Legal Advocates.

Dita was a member of the delegation for the Advisory Committee on Protection of the Sea (ACOPS), a Non-Governmental Organisations in a Consultative Status with the IMO.

Postdoctoral Fellow Neha Mishra participated in the Taiwan Internet Governance Forum (IGF) 2020: One World, One Internet, which was held on 11 and 12 November. Dr Mishra participated in the session ‘The WTO’s Digital Trade Initiative: Implications for Asian Policies’, with Erika Mann (Covington and Burlington LLP), Roy Chun Lee (Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research), and Tsai-fang Chen (National Chiao Tung University). The session was moderated by William Drake (University of Zurich).

Dr Mishra’s online presentation was based on her research on the WTO’s ongoing negotiations on e-commerce under the plurilateral Joint Statement Initiative (JSI). She discussed the various proposals made by WTO members on e-commerce, especially in the context of how the proposed trade rules will impact internet governance focussing on cross-border data flows, data localisation, privacy protection, cybersecurity and source code disclosure requirements. Thereafter, she provided her inputs on the dynamics in the negotiations between developed and developing countries as well as the ongoing tech war between the US and China. She concluded that given the divergence of perspectives on e-commerce rules among WTO members, any short-term outcomes in the ongoing JSI negotiations appear unlikely. The outcome, especially in the short run, could be a very basic agreement covering relatively uncontroversial areas such as spam, e-signatures, e-authentication, and online consumer protection. Difficult data governance issues will continue to remain unresolved.

Dr Nilüfer Oral was invited to speak at the online closing address of the Public International Law Year in Review on 10 November. The event was co-organised by Essex Court Chambers, Essex Court Chambers Duxton (Singapore Group Practice), Fietta LLP, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP, and The Sydney Centre for International Law.

Dr Oral spoke on ongoing negotiations for a legally binding agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction. Other panellists were Sir Michael Wood, Rodman Bundy and Dr Emily Crawford. The event was moderated by Jackie McArthur and Ryce Lee. At the end of the webinar, Professor Vaughan Lowe QC of Essex Court Chambers, and the University of Oxford, rounded off the session by giving the closing remarks.

Senior Research Fellow Denise Cheong and Research Associate S Nivedita participated in the second meeting of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP) Nuclear Energy Experts Group held this year.