Intergovernmental Expert Group on Environmental Crimes Fails to Reach Consensus
Guest blog by John (E) Scanlon AO, Environment, nature, sustainability | Advocacy, law, governance, policy, strategy. Originally published here . In 2024 the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (UNTOC) at the Twelfth Session of the Conference of the Parties (CoP12) adopted a resolution[1] on crimes that affect the environment (CAE). It followed a series of earlier UN resolutions on the topic. Amongst other things, the UNTOC Resolution on CAE established an open-ended intergovernmental expert group (IEG) on CAE falling withing the scope of the UNTOC. Its mandate included taking stock of how the UNTOC is being applied to address CAE, identifying gaps in the international legal framework to prevent and combat CAE, and how to respond to those gaps, including the “possibility, feasibility and merits” of any additional protocol to the Convention. The IEG first officially met from 30 June to 2 July 2025 and it held its second , and final, meeting from 24 to 26 Fe...