Refugee-led organizations across the Asia-Pacific region are gaining legal fluency to lead on climate advocacy through a pro bono partnership facilitated by PILnet.
The Asia-Pacific is one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable regions. For refugees already navigating displacement, the compounding effects of climate change deepen an already precarious existence. Yet in the legal and political spaces where climate solutions are debated, refugee voices are rarely present.
The Asia Pacific Network of Refugees (APNOR) Climate Change Working Group, has built its mission around closing that gap. “Climate policies and responses cannot be effective if they continue to exclude people most affected by displacement and climate injustice,” said Najeeba Wazefadost, Founder and Chief Executive Director of APNOR. “Refugee-led organisations bring critical lived expertise, community trust, and practical solutions, yet they remain largely absent from legal and policy spaces.“
Refugee-led organizations (RLOs) across the region are engaged in climate advocacy, but most lack access to the legal knowledge and frameworks that underpin it: international climate law, environmental litigation strategies, and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). To address this, APNOR’s Working Group approached PILnet to seek pro bono support. They were looking to partner with a law firm with the right expertise to co-develop a three-part online legal training series tailored specifically for RLOs, covering global climate frameworks, legal advocacy strategies, and case-based discussions. Through PILnet’s clearinghouse, they were matched with global law firm Hogan Lovells Cadwalader, who collaborated in designing and delivering the series while fostering ongoing connections between RLOs and legal professionals.
For Hogan Lovells, the partnership was a natural extension of an existing commitment. “We were delighted to continue our pro bono support for APNOR’s work with refugee-led organizations across the Asia-Pacific region,” said Rob Palmer, a Singapore-based partner at the firm. “Refugee-led organizations bring essential lived expertise, community trust, and practical solutions to climate justice advocacy, and this training series builds on our earlier collaboration in support of RLOs by helping refugee leaders access and apply the legal tools they need to advocate for their communities in climate policy spaces.”
Together, APNOR and Hogan Lovells Cadwalader created a training series that equips RLOs with the tools to engage confidently in climate policy at regional and global levels. The training was delivered to APNOR’s Climate Change Working Group, a network of 11 refugee leaders and advocates from across the Asia-Pacific region, including members based in Bangladesh, New Zealand, Japan, Afghanistan, Australia, Thailand, and Malaysia. Through three sessions held between November 2025 and March 2026, participants explored international climate frameworks, legal advocacy strategies, and pathways for engaging in global climate policy processes.
“Before this training, climate policy discussions often felt distant and difficult to access,” noted one working group participant. “Through APNOR’s Climate Change Working Group, the legal support provided, and this training, we gained a much clearer understanding of the legal frameworks, advocacy pathways, and how refugee-led organisations can engage more strategically in climate discussions affecting our communities.”
Legal expertise, when made genuinely accessible to frontline communities, shifts the terms of advocacy, not by speaking on behalf of affected populations, but by equipping them to speak more powerfully for themselves.
We encourage refugee-led organizations working at the intersection of climate change and displacement, or those supporting displaced communities in other contexts, to reach out and explore our free legal matching support. Through PILnet’s clearinghouse, we connect nonprofit organizations with pro bono lawyers who can help strengthen advocacy, governance, and legal strategies. Organizations interested in support can begin by submitting a request through our legal assistance intake form.
—Yusra Herzi
Program Officer, Forced Displacement