Joyce Melcar Tan (Atty.)

Joyce Melcar Tan is a Writer at Earth Negotiations Bulletin, as well as a lawyer at ClientEarth’s Asia Climate and Energy Initiative. She is a Philippine national based in London and has worked on climate change, energy transition, and environmental regulation for over a decade.

She has participated in UN climate conferences in various capacities—as part of civil society and the Philippine delegation. She has advised government ministries and legislators on climate change and disaster laws and policies. She has also worked with the Asian Development Bank as a consultant on environmental law education in 14 countries across South and Southeast Asia. She was previously an associate at the Philippines’ largest law firm, SyCipLaw, where she specialised in energy and natural resources regulation.

Joyce holds a M.Sc in Environment and Development, with distinction, from the University of Edinburgh, where she was a Chevening scholar. She obtained her JD with honours from Ateneo de Manila School of Law, Philippines, where she later taught International Environmental and Climate Change Law and Philippine Natural Resources and Environmental Law. She is qualified as a lawyer in the Philippines and in the State of New York, USA (non-practising).