Antonio A. Oposa, Jr.

Antonio Oposa is one of Asia's leading voices in the global arena of Environmental Law. His work is internationally known for establishing in the highest Court of Law the principle of inter-generational responsibility. His enforcement work, both in the Courts and on the field, has earned him the prestigious TOYM (The Outstanding Young Man) of the Philippines award and the highest UN recognition in the field of the Environment—the UNEP Global Roll of Honor. He has organized and led enforcement operations against Environmental crime syndicates. In 2008, after a ten-year legal battle against twelve Philippine government agencies, he won an unprecedented case to compel these agencies to clean up Manila Bay.

He holds a business degree from the De La Salle University and a law degree from the University of the Philippines. He received his Master of Laws from the Harvard Law School, where he was the commencement speaker of his graduating class. A scuba diver and avid nature lover, Oposa established the School of the SEAs (Sea and Earth Advocates) in the white-sand shores of Bantayan Island in the Central Philippines. The School is powered entirely by renewable energy, recycles water, and is truly an experiential learning center for sustainable living. With volunteer fishermen, enforcement operatives, divers, and ordinary citizens, young and old, he organized the famous Visayan Sea Squadron. Aside from being a para-legal action team, the volunteer teachers and divers also help local communities establish marine sanctuaries.

For his work, Oposa received The Outstanding Young Man (TOYM) of the Philippines award (1993) and the highest United Nations award in the field of the Environment -- the UNEP Global Roll of Honor (1997). He is the only Asian to receive the International Environmental Law Award from the Washington DC-based Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL). In July 2013, he was the Distinguished Visiting Scholar for International Environmental Law at the Vermont Law School.

In 2014, he was Visiting Lecturer in the University of Hawai‘i William S. Richardson School of Law. Professor Oposa was also selected as the 2015 Dan and Maggie Inouye Chair in Democratic Ideals at the University of Hawai'i.

“For his path-breaking and passionate crusade to engage Filipinos in acts of enlightened citizenship that maximize the power of the Law to protect and nurture the environment, for themselves, their children, and generations yet unborn,” he received the 2009 Ramon Magsaysay Award, often considered to be Asia's equivalent of the Nobel Prize.

For recreation, he is an avid cyclist, open-water scuba diver (advanced level), sailor, swimmer, tennis player, gardener, vocal artist, painter, writer, and  storyteller.

In the News:

Philippine environmentalist Antonio Oposa on climate justice (University of Hawai'i News)

Award-winning Philippines environmentalist at UH (KITV)

Professional:

• "Climate Justice for Future Generations" Inouye lecture at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa (2015);
• Dan and Maggie Inouye Chair in Democratic Ideals at the University of Hawai'i (2015);
• Recipient of the 2009 Ramon Magsaysay Award;
• Environmental Law Consultant to the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, United Nations, the U.S. Agency for International Development, European Union;
• Principal, A.Oposa and Associates, Environmental Law Counselors;
• Member, Board of Trustees, Center for International Environmental Law in Washington D.C.;
• Commencement Speaker, Harvard Law School Graduation Ceremonies (1997);
• UN Environment Programme Global Roll of Honor for Contributions to International Environmental Law (1997);
• The Outstanding Young Man of the Philippines (1993).

Publications:

• Co-author, Environmental Law in the Philippines, U.P. Law Center,1992;
• Finalizing the Compendium on Philippine Environmental Laws, Cases and Annotations in Layman’s Language.