2020 Regional Environmental Law Conferences
The regional Congresses will consider A Critical Decade for Environmental Law by expanding upon the original themes of the 2nd World Environmental Law Congress. The focus on the future, in connection with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is an innovative look forward to and beyond the next decade for the legal discipline.
This past year the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL) made the decision to postpone the 2nd World Environmental Law Congress (Congress), originally planned for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in March 2020.
In light of the ongoing COVID-19 global health pandemic, WCEL has now decided to split the global Congress into the following five converging regional hybrid Congresses:
- Inter-American Environmental Law Congress (Mexico City, Mexico, 8-9 July 2021)
- Inaugural Oceania Environmental Law Conference in conjunction with the Oceania Environmental Law Congress (Suva, Fiji, 14-16 July 2021)
- African Environmental Law Congress (Rabat, Morocco, 28-29 July 2021)
- Measuring the effectiveness of environmental law through legal indicators in conjunction with the European Environmental Law Congress (Paris, France)
- Looking Ahead To The CBD CoP15: Opportunities And Challenges Posed By Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs) in conjunction with the Asian Environmental Law Congress (Singapore)
In light of emerging and continuing global challenges, and the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, all regional Congresses will reaffirm, further develop, and advance the 2016 World Declaration on the Environmental Rule of Law and set the stage for the design of its implementation guidelines.
Regional Events
Inter-American Environmental Law Congress
8 - 9 July 2021
Mexico City, Mexico
Theme: Biodiversity and Law
Video Recordings:
Opening Ceremony & Welcoming Remarks
Congress Introduction and Keynote Presentations
General Trends & Challenges in Environmental Law in Americas
Protecting Environmental Defenders
Keynote Presentations (Day two)
WCEL Award Ceremony
Environmental Law in Court & Tribunal: Perspective on Environmental Adjudication & Capacity Building
Biodiversity Law: Looking Towards the CBD COP15 and National Legal Regimes
Role of the Administration in Environmental Law
Closing Keynote Presentation
Congress Closing
Oceania Environmental Law Congress
14 - 16 July, 2021
Suva, Fiji
Theme: Oceans and Islands
African Environmental Law Congress
28 - 29 July, 2021
Rabat, Morocco
Theme: Water and Desertification
Video recordings:
Opening Ceremony & Welcoming Remarks by the Organizers
Congress Introduction
Keynote Presentations: Water, Desertification and Climate Change Law in Africa
Roundtable: Environmental Law, Water and Climate Change: General Trends & Challenges in Africa
Environmental Law, Desertification and Climate Change: General Trends and Challenges in Africa
Key Recommendations emerging from the First Day of the Congress
Summary of the First Day of the Congress
Brasilia 2018 Declaration of Judges on Water Justice & Dakar2021 (9th World Water Forum)
Discussion on the Key Recommendations of the Congress
Water, Desertification and Climate Change Law: UNCBD COP 15, UNFCCC COP26, UNEA 5.2 and UNCCD COP 15
The Brasilia 2018 Declaration of Judges on Water Justice
WCEL Nicholas Robinson Environmental Law Award Ceremony
High Level Closing Sessions of the Congress
Asian Environmental Law Congress
Dates: 13 December 2021
Singapore; Online
Theme: Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs)
High-level Judicial Segment: A critical decade for the environment
Dates: 8-10 December 2021
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Online
Theme: The role of Judges: Environmental Law 2030 and Beyond
Video recordings:
Cultural Opening
Welcoming Remarks
Opening Video Addresses
Keynote Opening Lecture: Climate Change, Biodiversity and the Environmental Rule of Law
Judges and Climate Change
Climate Change, Biodiversity and the Environmental Rule of Law in the Montevideo V Programme
The Water Crisis and the 2018 Brasília Declaration of Judges on Water Justice
The 2021 IUCN Marseille Manifesto Key Messages to Judges on Biodiversity and Climate
Roundtable on Judicial Education on Climate Change and Biodiversity Law: The African and Asian Experiences
The Role of Courts in Protecting Environmental Defenders
Judges and the Ocean Crisis
The Promises of the Glasgow Climate COP 26 and Stockholm+50
Rights of Nature
Judges, Forests and Protected Areas
Congress Outcomes
Closing Keynote Addresses
Congress Closing
European Environmental Law Congress
Dates: 16-17 December 2021
Paris, France; Online
Theme: Environmental Indicators
Video recordings
LINKS
Oceania Environmental Law Congress