Article | 09 Déc, 2021

IUCN WCEL High Level Judicial Event Opens in Rio de Janeiro

The IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL) and its partners opened the high-level judicial segment of the 2nd World Environmental Law Congress yesterday at the Supreme Court of the State of Rio de Janeiro. The three-day event, The Role of Judges: Environmental Law 2030 and Beyond, brings together one hundred judges, lawyers, and legal scholars from over forty countries to discuss climate change, biodiversity and the environmental rule of law.

 

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Photo: Roberto Coll

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 have registered to watch the event.

After a cultural opening ceremony that featured live orchestral music written by acclaimed Brazilian composers, representatives from several Brazilian judicial institutions and the mayor of Rio de Janeiro offered welcoming remarks. Dr. Christina Voigt, WCEL Chair, then presented a keynote opening lecture highlighting the need for transformative change to avert the worst effects of climate change and biodiversity loss.

“What is needed is a large-scale and upscaled implementation of the environmental rule of law,” she said. “For lawyers and judges and legal scholars and all that work in the law. We need lawyers and judges that are well-informed, that understand the science, the urgency, and the implications of inaction.”

WCEL led the months-long effort to organize and reschedule this segment of the Congress that was originally scheduled for March 2020. This extraordinary gathering of global judges, lawyers, and legal scholars will meet for two more days to focus on the environmental rule of law, climate change, and other major biodiversity issues.

Prior to the opening of the high-level judicial segment, the Global Judicial Institute on the Environment held its 3rd General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro. The assembly featured the election of a new governing committee; discussion on the institute’s 2022 priorities; and reports from partners UNEP, ADB, International Council of Environmental Law, and Environmental Law Institute.

Reports and a video of the Congress will be uploaded to the WCEL website in the near future. Registration is still open for the high-level judicial segment here.