2nd IUCN WCEL World Environmental Law Congress: Environmental Law 2030 and Beyond

From 8 December to 10 December 2021, the High-Level Judicial Segment on the “The Role of Judges: Environmental Law 2030 and Beyond”, took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The President of the IAJ, Mr. José Igreja Matos and the Vice President Walter Barone, attended the event:

Speech of Mr. Matos (in English and Portuguese)

Speech of Mr. Barone (in English)

The International Association of Judges was present in this High-Level event reaffirming the commitment of judges regarding the crucial topic of protection of our Planet.

The event reaffirmed, further develop, and advance the 2016 IUCN World Declaration on the Environmental Rule of Law and the 2018 Brasilia Judicial Declaration on Water Justice, in light of the Marseille Manifesto and outcomes of the 2021 IUCN World Conservation Congress (September 2021), the recognition of a right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment by the United Nations Human Rights Council (October 2021), the Kunming Declaration of CBD COP 15 (October 2021), and the outcomes of UNFCCC COP26 in Glasgow (November 2021).

The High-Level Judicial Event discussed the following topics:

• Climate Change, Biodiversity and the Environmental Rule of Law
• The Water Crisis and the 2018 Brasília Declaration of Judges on Water Justice
• Judicial Education on Climate Change and Biodiversity Law

The importance of judicial independence in the context of Protection of Nature was also a key topic during this World Congress.
IUCN WCEL organized the judicial segment in cooperation with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Global Judicial Institute on the Environment (GJIE), the International Association of Judges (IAJ), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as well as several other international and national institutions. Over 350 people, mostly judges and academics, have registered to watch the event.