IUCN Partnership
International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
Through the Global Center for Environmental Legal Studies (GCELS), the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University has been a member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) since 1982. The IUCN is the world’s largest conservation network bringing together 170 countries, 90 States, 133 government agencies, more than 1,120 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and some 16,000 scientists and experts in a unique worldwide partnership, including legal specialists in the World Commission for Environmental Law. The Union’s mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable.
IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law
The IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL) is a network of environmental law and policy experts from all regions of the world who volunteer their knowledge and services to IUCN activities. Professor Nicholas A. Robinson has served as Chair of IUCN WCEL and an ex-officio member of the WCEL Executive Committee. Dean Emeritus Richard Ottinger has served as Chair of the Energy and Climate Change Specialist Group. Other Haub Law faculty, staff, and students have provided assistance to the IUCN WCEL over the years.
IUCN World Conservation Congress
As an active voting member of IUCN, GCELS sends a delegation to IUCN’s World Conservation Congress (Congress), which occurs every four years and attracts thousands of registrants from around the world with the purpose of networking, educating, and setting policy for the organization and its members. Hundreds of events and workshops occur during the Congress, making it one of the world’s most dynamic environmental conferences. Haub Law students, faculty and alumni prepare Motions for Resolutions of the Congress, participate in the Members Assembly and present workshops. The GCELS delegation to the Congress has been led by a law student.
IUCN Academy of Environmental Law
The Elisabeth Haub School of Law has played a key role in the development of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law and serves as co-secretariat. Professor Nicholas A. Robinson led the effort to establish the Academy during his tenure as Chair of IUCN WCEL and later served as Chair of the Academy. The Academy is rooted in the 1992 “Earth Summit’s” call in Agenda 21 (Chapter 8) for universities to advance legal education for integrating environment and development. In 1998, IUCN members requested that IUCN WCEL develop a network of university law faculties to strengthen environmental legal education worldwide. IUCN formally authorized the concept of an Academy of Environmental Law at the Second World Conservation Congress in 2000 and gave its final approval for the Academy in December 2002.
The Academy (autonomous from but in coordination with IUCN) is a global learned society dedicated to advancing knowledge of the ways in which law promotes a just society that values and conserves nature. The Academy convenes international colloquia every year, drawing hundreds of participants from countries and universities across the world. Haub Law faculty, students, and alumni speak at the colloquium each year. The annual proceeding of the Academy appears as a book currently published by Edward Elgar, and for the first 4 years by Cambridge University Press.
During the 2016 Colloquium in Oslo, Norway, the Academy approved the Maryland-Pace Environmental Law Alliance to take on a co-secretariat position and carry out the affairs of the Academy jointly with the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University.
Watch a video about the IUCN Academy produced by our partner, Maryland Carey Law, and featuring Professor Nicholas Robinson.
Global Pact for the Environment
On December 10, 2018, the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University hosted an event at the United Nations titled “Strengthening Implementation of International Environmental Law - Commentaries on the UN Secretary General's Report on International Environmental Law for the "Global Pact for the Environment” which was organized and moderated by Professor Nicholas A. Robinson. Held in response to the Secretary General’s first report ever on the state of international environmental law published on December 3, 2018 (A/73/419), the event featured numerous renowned experts in the field and on the topic discussing how the findings in this historic report could strengthen the Sustainable Development Goals. The event resulted in a comprehensive note on the United Nations Secretary-General’s Report, “Gaps in international environmental law and environment-related instruments: towards a global pact for the environment.”
Watch the 2018 UN EventRead UN Secretary-General’s Report (PDF)