Events

For the first time in the Asia-Pacific region an expert panel will consider the proposed definition for the crime of ecocide.

A renowned panel of experts will shed light on the unique challenges, tools, resources, and knowledge-sharing opportunities that judges face in climate change cases. Participants will comprise judges and representatives from judicial academies and schools, multilateral development banks, academia, and legal communities.

In celebration of World Environment Day 2021, the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL) is hosting a series of webinars on environmental law solutions.

OGCs Law and Policy Reform Team organized a capacity-building workshop for judges and climate activists during the 84th Extraordinary Session of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in Samoa on 6 March 2020. Challenges and opportunities in climate litigation involving vulnerable groups, like women and children were discussed.

This conference highlights the importance of keeping abreast of legal developments in the various Asian countries. At the same time, the event underscores the value of preserving and promoting the Rule of Law in order to ensure the sanctity of contract and the predictability of outcome of legal cases. 

The Asian Development Bank (ADB), in partnership with UN Environment, the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the Royal Court of Justice of Bhutan co-organized a Workshop on Environmental Adjudication for the Judiciary of Bhutan, held on 18-19 July 2018, in Thimphu.

ADB is supporting the Supreme Court of Cambodia's request for a training for judges on environment and climate change law. This is in line with recent initiatives to enact a comprehensive Environmental Code for the country. The training/workshop aims to equip judges with the knowledge and skills to tackle this new Code and to handle environmental cases, and to learn from best practices from other jurisdictions.  

The event is being supported by ADB and is organized by the World Commission on Environmental Law, the United Nations Environment Programme, the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, the International Association of Judges, and other partners, with the support of Brazilian judicial institutions. The main purposes of the meeting are to draft and approve the Bylaws of the Institute and to develop an Action Plan for the next two years. The GJIE was established during the 1st IUCN World Environmental Law Congress, where judges from 15 different countries gathered in Brazil in April 2016 for the inauguration Institute. A Charter for the Global Judicial Institute for the Environment was agreed upon, laying out the mission, objectives, activities, and structure for the GJIE.

By elevating the issue of wildlife crime and wildlife law reform, partners can assist champion Judiciaries (Asian Judges Network on the Environment), AGs (Attorneys General) and Parliaments from the ASEAN Inter Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) to gain a solid legal foundation to fully enforce wildlife laws that will help catalyze a significant shift in the regional trade context. Strengthening relevant laws and their enforcement remains the biggest challenge ahead, but represents a crucial strategy to create effective deterrents for illegal wildlife trade, and dismantle the criminal syndicates behind it.