The Rio Declaration, signed at The Royal Foundation’s United for Wildlife Global Summit, marks major step forward in global environmental governance.

18 governments, with the support of relevant international organisations and civil society organisations, have endorsed a Ministerial declaration to take bold, coordinated action against environmental crime, marking a major step forward in global environmental governance.

Convened by The Royal Foundation’s United for Wildlife programme at its fourth annual summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the Rio Declaration has been signed by governments of Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of Congo, France, Gabon, Germany, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Peru, Republic of Congo, South Africa, Suriname and United Kingdom. It demonstrates the proactive stance increasingly being taken on environmental issues by governments around the world, with leaders actively engaged in shaping new frameworks for cooperation.

The commitment from governments and partners builds on the 2014 London Declaration on Illegal Wildlife Trade and subsequent private sector coalitions established by United for Wildlife through the Buckingham Palace Declaration to shut down routes exploited by illegal wildlife traffickers. At this year’s Summit, United for Wildlife once again convened governments, business, and civil society to drive renewed ambition in tackling the full spectrum of environmental crimes.

At the Summit, governments further demonstrated their ambition to elevate environmental protection into a top-tier strategic priority, including through:

• Brazil announced a new coalition focused on establishing the first ever legally binding framework to address environmental crime. The Coalition, which remains open to new adhesions, is composed of the following members: Brazil, South Africa, Bolivia, Colombia, Gabon, Guinea Bissau, Panama, Peru, Democratic Republic of Congo, São Tomé and Príncipe, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe and Suriname.
• South Africa rallied countries around the first-ever G20 Ministerial Declaration on Crimes that Affect the Environment, demonstrating that countries comprising more than 85% of the global economy are united in their intention to scale up action on this issue.
• Norway announced support to extend and scale up LEAP (Law Enforcement Assistance Programme) with up to 23 million USD, in partnership with INTERPOL and UNODC. This is a renewed commitment from the partners to continue supporting law enforcement agencies to tackle illegal deforestation and associated crimes.
• Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) from more than 40 countries have now committed to the United for Wildlife Statement of Principles, a framework for international collaboration between law enforcement and financial institutions to tackle illicit financial flows underpinning wildlife and other environmental crimes.

The full details of the Rio Declaration can be found here.

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