The Council of Europe Committee of experts on the protection of the environment through Criminal Law (PC-ENV), composed of representatives of states, civil society and international organisations, held its 5th and final meeting on 7-9 October 2024 in Strasbourg.
The PC-ENV was tasked by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to prepare a new Convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law superseding and replacing the European Convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law (ETS 172).
The new Convention will be the first international legally binding instrument to address environmental crime, covering a broad range of criminal activities that aggravate the triple planetary crisis. It will help states to prevent, prosecute and sanction the most serious criminal offences, such as unlawful pollution, unlawful management of hazardous waste as well as unlawful logging and unlawful trade in timber, unlawful trading in wild fauna or flora, unlawful mining, and the unlawful deterioration of protected habitats. A provision entitled “particularly serious offence” has been included as well. The Convention also contains provisions aimed at developing a transversal approach to the protection of the environment, notably by acknowledging the importance of strengthening national strategies and promoting international co-operation in this field. The establishment of a monitoring mechanism will ensure its proper implementation and effectiveness.
The PC-ENV has now finished its work and the Convention and its Explanatory Report will be sent to the European Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC) for evaluation and approval at its Plenary meeting on 20-22 November 2024.
