Faculty, current students, and alumni of the Environmental Law Program held a panel titled “Workshop on International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) 2020 Motions” at the 27th Hawaiʻi Conservation Conference (HCC) on September 3, 2020. Professor Denise Antolini, ELP Director David Forman ’93, Emily Gaskin ’17, and Kevin Wrabley ’21 moderated the event with presentations by Ryan McDermott ’19, Miranda Steed ’19, Kelli Ann Kobayashi ’22, Joe Udell ’22, and ELP Summer Fellow Keona Blanks.
The event also served as a primer for the IUCN World Conservation Congress (WCC), which will take place in Marseille, France on dates to be determined in 2021 (postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Held once every four years, the WCC brings together over 1,400 members of government, civil society, and indigenous peoples’ member organizations, who vote on motions targeting major environmental issues.
Professor Antolini provides insight into the IUCN motions process during the HCC panel.
Through the IUCN workshop at the William S. Richardson School of Law, ELP students draft, submit, and track motions for the WCC. All seven ELP motions passed unanimously at the 2016 WCC.
The upcoming 2021 Congress in Marseille will feature six ELP motions related to climate change legislation, marine pollution from sunken vessels, safeguarding coral reefs from sunscreen, the plastic pollution crisis, the Global Judicial Institute on the Environment (GJIE), and the Global Institute of Prosecutors for the Environment (GIPE).
Antolini, who is also the Deputy Chair of IUCN’s World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL), and Elections Officer for the 2021 Congress, started the panel with an overview of IUCN and how its motions process provides “a window on the world and allows the world a window on what’s going on here in Hawaiʻi.”
Forman then explained ELP’s long-standing involvement with WCEL, IUCN and the IUCN Academy of Environmental law, including ELP students sent around the world to work on IUCN-related projects and bringing distinguished visitors to the law school to prepare for the 2016 WCC in Hawaiʻi – the first time that the Congress was held in the United States.
“We have long recognized the relevance of the IUCN to the work that we do with our students and the work that we do in our communities,” he said.
Gaskin, the WCEL’s Executive Officer and a former workshop student, provided further insight into the central role the motions process plays within IUCN and how it has “influenced several multilateral environmental agreements.” Current and former students then gave first-hand insight into the workshop and delivered pitches in favor of several motions that will either be eligible for electronic voting or further debate at Marseille:
(Wrabley) Motion 022: Stopping the global plastic pollution crisis in marine environments by 2030
(Steed) Motion 054: Climate crisis legal toolkit
(McDermott) Motion 055: Global Indigenous Network for Aquaculture (GINA)
Finally, Blanks – a Stanford University sophomore and James Campbell High School alumna, working as an ELP summer fellow – made a pitch on behalf of Motion 076: Role of children and youth in nature conservation.
The recording of the event can be found here.
Among other issues, ELP recommends that IUCN Hawaiʻi Hui members consider the following motions with Hawaiʻi connections during the electronic voting period that runs from October 7-21:
Motions Drafted by ELP students
Motion 022: Stopping the global plastic pollution crisis in marine environments by 2030
Motion 030: International cooperation on marine pollution from sunken vessels
Motion 054: Climate crisis legal toolkit
*Motion 046: Strengthening the Global Judicial Institute on the Environment and the Global Institute of Prosecutors for the Environment
*Two separate motions written by ELP were combined into this motion
Motion 071: Safeguarding coral reefs from harmful chemicals in sunscreen
Motions Co-Sponsored by Hawaiʻi IUCN Members
Motion 002: Strengthened institutional inclusion concerning indigenous peoples
Co-Sponsored by ELP, Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance Foundation, Kamehameha Schools, Kuaʻaina Ulu ʻAuamo
*Motion 003: [Establishing a Climate Change Commission] [Establishing an Inter-Commissional Cross-Sectoral Task Force on the Climate Crisis] [Establishing an IUCN Climate Task Force]
Co-Sponsored by Hawai’i Conservation Alliance Foundation, Kuaʻaina Ulu ʻAuamo
*Motion is tabled for further discussion before voting during the Members’ Assembly in Marseille
*Motion 024: Restoring a peaceful and quiet ocean
Co-Sponsored by ELP
*Motion is tabled for further discussion before voting during the Members’ Assembly in Marseille
Motion 038: Promoting biodiversity preservation through environmentally friendly energy transformation measures
Co-Sponsored by ELP
*Motion 044: Actions to strengthen food sovereignty and security of indigenous peoples and peasant communities
Co-Sponsored by ELP, Kamehameha Schools
*Motion is tabled for further discussion before voting during the Members’ Assembly in Marseille
*Motion 045: Recognising and supporting indigenous peoples’ and local communities’ rights and roles in conservation
Co-Sponsored by Kuaʻaina Ulu ʻAuamo
*Motion is tabled for further discussion before voting during the Members’ Assembly in Marseille
*Motion 048: Rediscovering the care of Mother Earth from the vision of indigenous peoples
Co-Sponsored by Kuaʻaina Ulu ʻAuamo
*Motion is tabled for further discussion before voting during the Members’ Assembly in Marseille
Motion 055: Global Indigenous Network for Aquaculture (GINA)
Co-Sponsored by ELP, Kamehameha Schools, Kuaʻaina Ulu ʻAuamo
Motion 112: Maximising return on conservation investments and sustainable development: eradicating invasive alien species (IAS) to conserve island biodiversity and benefit society
Co-Sponsored by Hawai’i Conservation Alliance Foundation
*Motion 126: Advancing conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in the ocean beyond national jurisdiction
Co-Sponsored by ELP
*Motion is tabled for further discussion before voting during the Members’ Assembly in Marseille
JU 9/16/20