The general theme of the Congress is Environmental Law 2030 and Beyond, a departure from the common approach in previous events to reflect primarily on past or present developments and issues.

To prepare the panels for the 2^nd World Environmental Law Congress, WCEL welcomes the submission of abstracts for short articles that will be organized around the following thematic tracks and panel topics

1. Sustainable Urban Environment in Times of Climate Change and Biodiversity Crisis

   1. Fresh Water Protection & Brasília Declaration of Judges on Water Justice (in partnership with World Water Forum)

   2. Air Pollution, Transportation & Industry

   3. Waste & Sanitation

2. Ocean, Islands & Coastal Zone Crisis

   1. Pollution - Plastics, Runoff & Wastewater

   2. Biodiversity - Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), Resource Extraction, Protected Areas, Adaptation, Coral Reefs, Ocean Acidification

   3. Development of Coastal Areas - Planning and Permitting, Aquaculture, Climate/Sea Level Rise

3. Species & Ecosystem Extinction Crisis, Convention of Biological Diversity Post-2020, Sustainable Use of Soil and Habitat Protection

   1. Present & Future Ethical & Legal Challenges - Synthetic Biology, Geoengineering, Wildlife Trafficking

   2. Law & Sustainability  - WCEL Model Flora Act Initiative

   3. Legal Implications of the IPBES Global Assessment, Science, Socio-Economics

4. Enhancing the Practice of the Environmental Rule of Law

   1. Legal Status of Nature/Rivers/Forests, Standing to Sue, Ethics

   2. Innovative Judicial & Prosecutorial Procedures & Remedies, Use of other legal disciplines for environmental purpose (e.g., insurance law, competition law, advertising law, whistleblowing laws, fraud & misrepresentation, law of disclosure of climate risks & investments in fossil fuels, preventing wildlife crimes, corporations & financial regulations etc.)

   3. Compliance & Enforcement Systems - How to use technology to strengthen compliance and enforcement, Community-Based Management & Indigenous Knowledge, Innovative Approaches, Environmental Courts.

Abstracts on other topics will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

The deadline for submission of abstracts is 1 September 2019.  Submit the Abstract Submission Form to wcel@iucn.org.  The submissions will be reviewed by a WCEL committee. 

The deadline for short articles based on the selected abstracts is 15 January 2020.  Panel presentations will be based on the abstracts and facilitate feedback for authors’ revisions of the final papers. 

The final versions of the papers are due shortly after the Congress, no later than 10 April 2020.  WCEL plans to publish the proceedings and papers online.  

We warmly welcome your submission and look forward to your contributions to the Congress.

If you have questions, please feel free contact wcel@iucn.org.