Wolfgang and Françoise Burhenne Award for Advancing the Environmental Rule of Law

A new International Council of Environmental Law (ICEL) Award for Excellence in Advancing the Environmental Rule of Law was launched at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi, 9-15 October 2025.

This ICEL Award is named after Dr. Wolfgang E. Burhenne and Dr Françoise Burhenne-Guilmin, as two of the most influential pioneers of environmental law who enjoyed a unique partnership.

The ‘ICEL Burhenne-Guilmin Award’ is sponsored by the ICEL, with the support of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL), and the UN Environment Programme, each of which were an integral part of the lives of Wolfgang Burhenne and Françoise Burhenne-Guilmin.

The ICEL Burhenne-Guilmin Award is open for sponsorship on an annual basis.

The ICEL Burhenne-Guilmin Award will be made once every two years: at the quadrennial IUCN Congress, and to coincide with an IUCN Council meeting, and will be presented by the Executive President of ICEL, the Director of the UNEP Law Division, and the Chair of the IUCN WCEL.

The ICEL Burhenne-Guilmin Award Jury Panel is comprised of the Executive President of ICEL (Chair), the ICEL Chancellor, the Chair of IUCN WCEL, the Director of the UNEP Law Division, and a nominee of the sponsoring organisation.

Other than in its first year, nominations will be publicly called for through the supporting organisations. The winner is to be selected by the Jury Panel from amongst three finalists, whose names will be shared publicly.

The ICEL Burhenne-Guilmin Award recognises outstanding individuals for excellence in advancing the environmental rule of law at the national, regional or global level. 

Background:

Environmental Rule of Law

At its first universal session in 2013, UNEP’s Governing Body adopted Decision 27/9, on Advancing Justice, Governance and Law for Environmental Sustainability. This decision is the first internationally negotiated document to establish the term ‘environmental rule of law.’ It invited Governments and relevant organisations to reinforce international, regional and sub-regional cooperation to combat noncompliance with environmental laws.

In the Decision, Members States recognised the growing importance of the rule of law in the field of the environment to reduce violations of environmental law and to achieve sustainable development.

Dr. Wolfgang E. Burhenne (April 27, 1924 – January 6, 2017)

Wolfgang Burhenne’s passion for inventing laws to protect all manner of flora and fauna is legendary. More than any other single individual, he conceived and nourished laws for nature conservation and environmental stewardship across the Earth. He was as much at home in the Alps of Austria or Bavaria as he was in East Africa or the Arabian Peninsula. He loved la chasse and nourished care for wild animals. At the same time, he devoted his life to building what the world now accepts as sustainable development, helping people to live in greater harmony with nature. He was as much at home in the hallways of the United Nations in New York or Geneva as he was in parliamentary offices across Germany.

In 1956, working from his offices in the Villa Salviati, across from the German Chancellery, he founded IUCN’s Environmental Law Centre. At his urging, IUCN had set up a committee on legislation in 1952-53, which became its Commission on Environmental Law in 1963. At the 10^th IUCN Assembly in 1969 in New Delhi, Wolfgang Burhenne, with Negendra Singh and others, founded the International Council of Environmental Law (ICEL), to further the work of IUCN’s Environmental Law Programme.

Dr Françoise Burhenne-Guilmin (May 22, 1943 – August 24 2013)

After graduating as a Doctor in Law at the University of Brussels, in 1966, Dr Burhenne-Guilmin worked for IUCN, first as Secretary to the IUCN Commission on Legislation and, from 1970, as Legal Officer. In 1973, she became Head of the IUCN Environmental Law Centre (ELC), in Bonn. She held this position until 1999, and was then Senior Counsel to three consecutive directors of the ELC.

Dr Burhenne-Guilmin was instrumental in drafting several international conventions, agreements and instruments, but her passion was the development of technical capacities through access to information on environmental law and policy. Her lifelong contribution to environmental law was acknowledged through many recognitions, distinctions and awards such as the Better World Society Medal for Protection of the Global Environment (1989), the 1991 International Environment Prize of the United Nations, and the Elizabeth Haub Prize for Environmental Law (2008).

Dr. Wolfgang E. Burhenne and Dr Françoise Burhenne-Guilmin – a unique partnership

With the framework for IUCN’s Environmental Law Programme, Wolfgang Burhenne asked IUCN’s first Secretary General, Jean-Paul Harroy, to employ IUCN’s first lawyer, Françoise Guilmin. In 1963, she began her work on the African Convention on the Conservation of Nature & Natural Resources. Wolfgang and Françoise were married in 1970 and were a globally celebrated partnership for leading the establishment of environmental law, until her death in 2013.

In 1972, Wolfgang and Françoise led IUCN‘s delegation to the 1972 United Nations Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment, where they recruited new members for the Commission on Environmental Law.  The team immediately began work on the 1973 Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES). Further achievements include the Bonn Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals (1979), the United Nations World Charter for Nature (1982), the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982), the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (1992), and other regional and international treaties.