Motion 052

Serious wildlife crime is organised, transnational, is fuelled by corruption, and has a devastating impact on wildlife, local communities, national economies, security, public health and entire ecosystems. Of all the known threats to wildlife, the illegal taking, trade and consumption of wildlife is one of the most destructive and destabilising. Despite the severe impacts of such crimes, we do not have a global agreement on wildlife crime and existing wildlife trade laws are not adequately enforced. Resolution 14/2 of the UNTOC COP provides an opportunity to fill these gaps by requesting States to consider the merits of an additional Protocol to the UNTOC on crimes that affect the environment, including wildlife trafficking. Such a Resolution would among others provide a common definition for wildlife crime, which would facilitate convergence in national approaches and facilitate the international cooperation that is necessary to tackle this global crime.

The Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime is a global alliance of over 45 organizations from corporations, foundations, industry associations, NGOs and international organizations, coming from across every region all of whom support its work to encourage States to fill serious gaps in international and national law, by advocating for and offering technical support towards the creation of an additional protocol covering wildlife trafficking under the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC), and advocating for primary prevention of pathogen spillover from animals to people to be included in the WHO pandemics treaty under negotiation and in national laws. The initiative is hosted by IUCN Member, the ADM Capital Foundation. The International Council of Environmental Law, an IUCN Member, is an International Champion of the Initiative along with 15 other members of the Initiative. The IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL) is also one of its International Champions.

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The purpose of this motion is to follow up on the motion tabled by France at the World Conservation Congress in Marseille in 2021 (Treating organised crime having an impact on the environment as a serious crime) and to update it in the light of the resolution tabled by France and adopted at COP12 of the Palermo Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (Vienna, October 2024), with a view to the next World Crime Congress to be held in April 2026 in the United Arab Emirates, which will address, among others, crimes against the environment.

The purpose of this motion is to encourage IUCN Member States and the World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL) to actively engage in the 15th Crime Congress to showcase their achievements and commitments as well as to encourage the IUCN commissions to contribute to activities and expert groups organised under the umbrella of the Office of the United Nations against Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in order to bridge the gap between these two communities.