Fifth Montevideo Environmental Law Programme Regional Meeting and Third ASEAN Environmental Law Conference

Regional environmental law issues sit within a broader context of global environmental challenges that require both regional and global governance solutions. In March 2019, the UN Environment Assembly adopted the Fifth Montevideo Programme for the Development and Periodic Review of Environmental Law (Montevideo V). Montevideo V is a ten-year intergovernmental programme running from January 2020 to December 2029. UNEP is the Secretariat of the programme. The objectives of Montevideo V include supporting the development and implementation of adequate and effective environmental legislation and legal frameworks to address environmental issues and the promotion of the role of environmental law in the context of effective environmental governance.
ASEAN faces many pressing environmental and social challenges that require multi-layered and innovative responses. The Fifth Montevideo Environmental Law Programme Regional Meeting and third ASEAN Environmental Law Conference aims to bring together Asia Pacific and ASEAN experts to share stories of successes and failures and examine potential legal, policy, and community-based actions to transform the principles of environmental law into practice.
The Third ASEAN Environmental Law Conference also builds on the momentum from previous ASEAN environmental law conferences. In January 2021, the first ASEAN Environmental Law Conference, with the theme “Stories and Solutions in Challenging Times,” connected over 1,200 participants and presenters online. The second ASEAN Environmental Law Conference was held in April 2022 with the theme of “Transforming Principles into Practice." That event brought together 1,680 attendees for fifteen sessions over three days.
The past conferences were organised by the Asian Research Institute for Environmental Law (ARIEL) with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the United Nations Environment Programme. They were supported by other partner institutions such as the College of Law (Australia), USAID, EarthRights International, the Global Judicial Institute on the Environment, the Indonesian Centre for Environmental Law, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, - World Commission on Environmental Law, LAWASIA, LexisNexis, and Macquarie University Centre for Environmental Law (and others)
To continue fostering networks and collaborative approaches to environmental problem-solving through strengthened environmental rule of law, the event will bring together experts and stakeholders to join in the conference with the theme “The Future of Environmental Law in ASEAN and beyond."