On October 10, 2025, during the Congress held in Abu Dhabi, the French Pavilion hosted an event organized by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs with the participation of Gabon's co-facilitator for the CBFP, Aurélie-Flore KOUMBA-PAMBO, on the theme: “From the World Conservation Congress to the World Crime Congress: a roadmap on environmental crime.”
Today, crimes affecting the environment (such as illegal logging, wildlife trafficking, waste trafficking, illegal fishing, pollution-related crimes, and illegal resource extraction) threaten ecosystems, biodiversity, and climate resilience.
Not only do they undermine conservation efforts and socio-economic development in many countries, but they are often linked to organized crime and corruption.
There is therefore a need to build more bridges between the worlds of conservation and criminal justice. This is the very objective of the motion on Crimes that Affect the Environment (CAE) adopted at the World Conservation Congress.
The World Conservation Congress and the World Congress on Crime Prevention (WCCrim), both organized by the United Arab Emirates, offer a unique opportunity to fill this gap by mobilizing global efforts in favor of nature conservation and sustainable development, as well as by engaging legal institutions and law enforcement agencies in the fight against transnational crime.
The aim of the event organized at the French pavilion was to foster strategic dialogue between several specialist organizations in order to identify the path towards joint and concrete action to pave the way for a United Nations congress on crime prevention and criminal justice in relation to environmental crimes.
Following the event organized by the CBFP on the same theme in Libreville last June, Gabonese co-facilitator Aurélie-Flore KOUMBA-PAMBO reiterated that the CBFP was seizing every opportunity to emphasize that crimes affecting the environment must be recognized as serious threats in global crime programs.
French Ambassador for the Environment Barbara POMPILI recalled that “The IUCN Congress and the United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, both hosted by the United Arab Emirates, are major events for continuing the mobilization against environmental crime.”
On this subject, the Ambassador emphasized that “it appears necessary to strengthen the international framework. A fourth protocol to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) would make it possible to structure a coherent and ambitious international response.”
Introduced by Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed Al Zarouni, Director of International Relations for the Police (United Arab Emirates) and Emirati representative of the international I2LEC initiative, Giovanni BROUSSARD, Acting Director of GPCAE at UNODC, gave an overview of the scale and impact of environmental crimes.
This was followed by a panel discussion moderated by Susan Liebermann of WCS, which facilitated a rich exchange between:
- HE Barbara POMPILI, Ambassador for the Environment (France)
- HE Dr. Aurélie-Flore KOUMBA-PAMBO, Ambassador for the Environment, CBFP Co-Facilitator (Gabon)
- John E SCANLON AO, Executive President, ICEL (Spain)
This event was organized by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE) with the support of UNODC, ICEL, WRI, WCS, and the Wildlife Justice Commission.
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