In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Philippines. Renee Valerie Fajardo heard towns were leveled and volunteered for disaster relief efforts. After learning citizens had to face the life-changing tragedy alone, she knew she had to do more.
Fajardo then enrolled at Vermont Law School to get her J.D. and Master of Environmental Law and Policy degrees. She was introduced to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, a treaty guiding global climate change relief efforts.
She grew fascinated with the international efforts to create a better world for all. Fajardo then joined the mission as a UNFCCC intern. In Born Area, Germany, Fajardo worked with United Nations legal officers to provide legal advice to countries.
“It was a lot to learn in a short time,” Fajardo said. “Yet, my skills in legal argument and research were helpful in trying to answer legal questions.”
After graduating, Fajardo joined Greenpeace Southeast Asia as a legal researcher on the Philippine Commission on Human Rights’ Carbon Majors case, where she sought to hold significant carbon dioxide emitters responsible for climate change and its impact on the human rights of Filipinos. Seeing a smaller nation suffer from increasing greenhouse emissions from other parties reignited her anger with contemporary climate policies.
Fajardo realized she wanted to fight for such nations.
“The difference between pre-law school and post-law school was that I felt more empowered to do something about it,” Fajardo said. “It was after these two experiences that I made a decision to pursue a career in international climate change law.”
Meeting Tony Oposa, a leading environmental lawyer for the Philippines and past advisor to the Federated States of Micronesia, led Fajardo to become a legal adviser for Micronesia. She balanced multiple countries’ interests to find common ground while ensuring fair negotiations. She has advised governments, organizations, and stakeholders across Southeast Asia and the Pacific on regulatory and mitigation strategies for controlling short-lived climate pollutants in the energy, agriculture, and waste sectors.
Diving straight into legal environmental advising made Fajardo miss out on exploring more of her interests, like the intersection of air quality, food security, and climate change. Joining Miami Law’s Environmental Law Program will allow her to explore all these.
Fajardo joined the School of Law as a lecturer and thrives in its intellectual life. Attending the faculty’s Legal Theory workshops to hear other faculty members’ scholarship and work helps to inspire her.
Fajardo recently joined Professor Jessica Owley, visiting lecturer Tracy Bach, and 11 students at the 29th Round of Climate Change Treaty Negotiations in Baku, Azerbaijan. At the conference, she helped place students with nations like Samoa and the Federated States of Micronesia to advise them on the following steps to combat climate change.
Their efforts led to the University establishing new ties with the Center for International Environmental Law and Aksyon Klima Pilipinas, one of the Philippines’ largest climate action advocates.
“None of this would have been possible without the hard work of Valerie Fajardo before, during, and after the negotiations,” said Owley.
Fajardo’s work reflects a commitment to integrating legal expertise, policy innovation, and collaboration to drive meaningful climate action globally for the benefit of vulnerable countries. She intends to build a climate change negotiations program as the Climate and Environmental Law fellow. She anticipates diversifying the University’s environmental law program courses and encouraging students to be the next pioneers of climate law.
“I think there’s a host of talented young lawyers in developing countries who can be encouraged to do this work,” Fajardo said. “I want to build the credentials to develop a similar program down the road.”
Read more about Miami Law’s environmental law area of study.
