The Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC) took part in the 34th session of the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ), held in Vienna from 19 to 23 May 2025. As the United Nations’ main body on crime and justice, the CCPCJ offers a key platform to advance the global fight against wildlife and environmental crime. This session is especially significant, as it is the last prior to the 15th UN Crime Congress taking place in Abu Dhabi next year. Held every five years, the Congress guides international crime prevention efforts. The WJC works to ensure that crimes that affect the environment (CAE), including wildlife trafficking, are prominently addressed – helping to secure strong commitments that will shape future policy, enforcement and resource prioritisation.
Our participation at the CCPCJ supports our broader goal of strengthening international legal responses to CAE through key global treaties. The CCPCJ plays a central role in advancing the UN Conventions against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) and Corruption (UNCAC) – both essential tools for tackling organised crime and corruption, major drivers of CAE.
Our investigations reveal how criminal networks exploit legal and implementation gaps, and our policy team works to close them. By engaging directly with treaty bodies and policymakers, we push for practical, evidence-based solutions. At this year’s CCPCJ, we submitted a written statement and delivered two oral interventions (watch them here and here), urging Member States to enhance justice responses to CAE and make full use of the UNTOC. We also called on governments to keep CAE—including its links to corruption and the climate crisis—high on the agenda at the upcoming UNCAC Conference of the States Parties and Crime Congress.
Sharing best practices and lessons learned in disrupting wildlife trafficking networks
On Tuesday, 20 May, the Wildlife Justice Commission hosted and moderated a side event titled Harnessing the Power of UNTOC Against Crimes that Affect the Environment: Lessons Learned in Disrupting Pangolin and Ivory Trafficking Networks, with the support of the Governments of Peru and France, and INTERPOL.
Opening remarks were delivered by Carlos Sanchez del Aguila, Minister Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Peru to Vienna, Chair of the Intergovernmental Expert Group on CAE established in accordance with the UNTOC Conference of the Parties resolution 12/4, with a mandate to identify any gaps in the international legal framework and consider possible responses to those gaps, including the possibility, feasibility and merits of any additional protocol to the UNTOC. The event featured expert panellists including Katalin Kecse-Nagy (UNODC), David Migwi (INTERPOL), and Stephen Carmody (WJC), who shared practical insights and successful strategies for addressing transnational organised wildlife crime under the UNTOC framework. This event aimed to support the work of the expert group and contribute to addressing existing gaps in the implementation and enforcement of critical instruments that could be further addressed under the international legal framework, in particular the UNTOC.
The panel highlighted key wildlife trafficking trends, particularly in pangolin scale and ivory trafficking, and presented case studies that illustrated best practices and lessons learned from recent investigations. Discussions emphasised the critical importance of combining intelligence-led investigations, special investigative techniques (such as controlled deliveries, undercover operations, and surveillance), financial investigations, anti-corruption measures, international cooperation, cross-sectoral partnerships, and technical assistance to effectively dismantle transnational criminal networks.
At this event, the WJC presented findings from its new report analysing pangolin scale and ivory trafficking trends, providing concrete illustrations of how sustained, collaborative efforts – especially our partnership with the Nigeria Customs Service since July 2021 – and the use of tools provided under the UNTOC framework have led to the dismantling of major trafficking networks and significant declines in trafficking flows over the past decade.
Addressing legal gaps: Non-CITES listed species
The WJC also supported and participated in the side event Closing the Gap: Addressing Wildlife Trafficking of Non-CITES Listed Species, co-sponsored by the Government of Brazil and the International Council of Environmental Law, and supported also by ADM Capital Foundation, Born Free Foundation, Freeland Foundation, and Jane Goodall Institute.
Our Senior Director of Investigations, Stephen Carmody, underscored the urgent need to address critical legal gaps in the protection of species not listed under CITES. With only 0.4% of the world’s species covered by CITES, many remain unlisted and vulnerable to exploitation. This creates a loophole where wildlife illegally sourced in violation of national laws can still be traded internationally, as these species are not subject to CITES controls. Traffickers exploit this disconnect to launder illegally obtained wildlife through legal markets. The WJC called for clear, enforceable, and practical legislation to enable effective action by law enforcement agencies.
Supporting broader efforts to advance crimes that affect the environment at the UN level
The WJC also supported the side event Strengthening Civil Society Engagement at the 15th UN Congress on Crime Prevention, organised by the Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, of which we are a Board member. This session highlighted the vital role of civil society in shaping the forthcoming Abu Dhabi Declaration, which will be essential to strengthen political will, enforcement and international cooperation on these issues. The WJC advocates for strong commitments to tackle CAE, including wildlife trafficking, to be prominently included in the Declaration.
Key recommendations for scaling up the global response to these crimes
Throughout the week, the WJC urged Member States to adopt the following recommendations:
- Criminalise environmental offenses in line with the UNTOC’s “serious crime” threshold to enable the full application of the Convention, including international cooperation mechanisms, and to ensure penalties are proportionate and dissuasive for high-level offenders.
- Employ special investigative techniques – such as controlled deliveries, undercover operations, and surveillance – to target high-level offenders and dismantle complex trafficking operations.
- Integrate financial investigations and anti-corruption strategies into CAE responses to trace and recover illicit proceeds, disrupt the financial flows associated to CAE, and weaken the economic incentives driving these crimes.
- Strengthen international law enforcement cooperation through joint investigations, intelligence sharing, and mutual legal assistance mechanisms.
- Develop inter-agency coordination mechanisms at the national level connecting environmental, customs, forestry, and law enforcement agencies.
- Enhance collaboration with other stakeholders in tackling CAE, including civil society organisations (CSOs) and the private sector. CSOs play a vital role by raising awareness, sharing intelligence, supporting public-private partnerships to detect illicit financial flows, and providing technical assistance to law enforcement and judicial actors. Their insights help identify legal and policy gaps and shape stronger frameworks to prevent and respond to CAE effectively.
- Expand the provision of technical assistance, including legal and institutional capacity-building, by UNODC and relevant stakeholders, including CSOs. For instance, to address the threat of illegal wildlife trade and the involvement of organised crime, the WJC provides technical and operational support, tailored to the specific needs and requests of our law enforcement counterparts.
Looking ahead
On the final day of the CCPCJ, Member States adopted by acclamation a resolution on Tackling illicit trafficking in wild fauna and flora, including timber and timber products, the illegal mining of and illicit trafficking in minerals and precious metals, the illicit trafficking in waste and other crimes that affect the environment. Sponsored by Brazil and co-sponsored by seven other States, the resolution will now be transmitted to the Economic and Social Council for adoption by the UN General Assembly. The resolution welcomed the establishment, in accordance with the UNTOC Conference of the Parties resolution 12/4, of the open-ended intergovernmental expert group on CAE, which will meet for the first time at the end of June 2025.
The WJC reaffirms its commitment to supporting Member States, UNODC, and the expert group in strengthening the global response to CAE. We stand ready to contribute technical expertise, operational insights, and best practices to the expert group’s discussions.
This moment presents a crucial opportunity to close existing legal and operational gaps and scale up our efforts to combat CAE before entire species and ecosystems are wiped out.
If you are a member of civil society and interested in coordinating with other CSOs in multilateral discussions on crime and justice issues, in particular on environmental crime and at the CCPCJ, Crime Congress and UNTOC levels, join the Working Group on CAE within the Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. If you are interested in coordinating joint policy actions to advocate for strong and coordinated measures to address corruption related to environmental crimes (in particular at the UNCAC level), join the UNCAC Coalition’s Working Group on Environmental Crime and Corruption.
Missed the events?
Watch the recording of our event here:
Watch the recording of the event Closing the Gap: Addressing Wildlife Trafficking of Non-CITES Listed Species, in which we participated, here:
