The International Council of Environmental Law actively participated at the IUCN World Conservation Congress, held in Abu Dhabi from 9-15 October 2025.

Together with the Government of France, ICEL co-drafted and submitted a Motion on Preventing, Combatting and Strengthening International Cooperation and Technical Assistance To Address Environmental Crimes. Upon request by the IUCN Secretariat, ICEL and representatives from France worked with the World Resources Institute and the Wildlife Conservation Society to merge with their Motion on Nature Crime. The resulting merged Motion on Crimes that Affect the Environment was adopted with an overwhelming majority. The Resolution, inter alia, requests the IUCN Director General and Council to convene a Task Force to develop an IUCN Strategy on crimes that affect the environment (CAE).

The IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL) will take a lead role in implementing this Resolution, in particular the newly established WCEL CAE Specialist Group, of which ICEL’s Executive President and Executive Officer have been appointed as Chair and Deputy Chair, respectively.

ICEL additionally sponsored the following Motions, all of which were adopted:

• Resolution 8.071 Recognising the Model Forest Act to enhance forest protection, conservation, restoration and sustainable management of forests
• Resolution 8.073 Enhancing sustainable tourism practices through the incorporation of welfare standards for wild animals in captivity and in the wild
• Resolution 8.113 Appeal for global prevention of propeller-inflicted deaths on endangered species

ICEL additionally co-sponsored the high-level event “From the World Conservation Congress to the World Crime Congress: a Roadmap on Crimes that Affect the Environment” hosted by the French Government on 10 October. The panel featured:

• John Scanlon AO, ICEL Executive President.
• Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed Al Zarouni, Director of the International Police Representation, Department of Interior, UAE.
• Giovanni Broussard, Acting Head, Global Programme on CAE, UNODC.
• HE Barbara Pompili, Environment Ambassador, France.
• HE Dr Dr Aurélie Flore Koumba Pambo, Environment Ambassador, Gabon.