Skip to main content

Judges Day - a Major Parallel Event of the 17th UN Biodiversity Conference

Colloquium |

 

Co-organized by the Global Judicial Institute on the Environment, United Nations Environment Programme, IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law and Asian Development Bank, with support from the CBD Secretariat and Brazil

Judges Day is one of the major parallel events that will be held during the Seventeenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP17). It will be comprised of two complementary events: (1) Launch of the Model Framework Forest Act – From Global Partnership to the Legal Protection of Forests; and (2) Judicial Dialogue on Nature: The Role of the Courts in Biodiversity, Climate, Water and Forest Protection.

CBD COP17 marks the first global review of progress under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), providing an important opportunity to assess whether international commitments and national biodiversity targets are being translated into measurable actions and outcomes. Effective implementation of the KMGBF requires more than policy commitments. It depends on sustained collaboration among legislatures, executive agencies, regulators, courts, communities, and other stakeholders, as well as integrated responses to the interconnected challenges of biodiversity loss, deforestation, climate change, water insecurity, land degradation and pollution.

By linking biodiversity legal frameworks and justice institutions, Judges Day offers the wider CBD COP17 community a unique platform to examine how global biodiversity commitments can be embedded in domestic legal frameworks, implemented by capable and accountable institutions, and enforced through the rule of law. In doing so, it helps bridge the gap between international commitments and practical implementation on the ground. 

Judges Day brings together strong legal frameworks and courts as two parts of a single environmental-rule-of-law continuum:

  • The first event of the Judges Day is the Launch of the Model Framework Forest Act – From Global Partnership to the Legal Protection of Forests which focuses on the legislative architecture needed to protect forests and biodiversity. It presents a modern, coherent and adaptable framework that countries may draw upon when designing or enhancing national and subnational forest laws. By linking forest governance with biodiversity, climate resilience, ecosystem services, rights, institutions, incentives, implementation and enforcement, the Model Framework Forest Act seeks to support domestic legal frameworks capable of advancing the KMGBF in diverse national contexts.
  • The second event of the Judges Day is the Judicial Dialogue on Nature: The Role of the Courts in Biodiversity, Climate, Water and Forest Protection which turns to the role of courts in interpreting and applying environmental law, enforcing legal obligations and devising remedies in cases properly brought before them. It provides a forum for comparative judicial exchange on biodiversity, forests, climate, water, pollution and land, bringing together judges from numerous jurisdictions.

Judges Day Objectives

  • support the translation of global biodiversity commitments into effective, coherent and adaptable domestic legal frameworks;
  • strengthen understanding of implementation, compliance, enforcement and remedies under environmental law;
  • promote coherence across biodiversity, forests, climate, water, pollution and land governance;
  • facilitate the exchange of comparative experience, good practices and transferable lessons; and
  • connect the modernization of environmental legislation with its effective interpretation and application by competent institutions, including the courts.

Audience

COP17 participants, including government delegates, policymakers, judges and other justice-sector actors, international and regional organizations, civil society and non-governmental representatives, Indigenous Peoples, academia and others.

 

Forests are among the world’s most valuable natural assets, underpinning biodiversity, climate resilience, sustainable development, and human well-being. Covering nearly one-third of the Earth’s land surface and supporting the vast majority of terrestrial species, forest ecosystems provide essential services that sustain livelihoods, regulate climate, conserve biodiversity, and strengthen ecosystem resilience.

The Model Forest Act Initiative (MoFAI) is a collaborative initiative to support the modernization of national forest laws in response to 21st challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss and the transition to a circular bioeconomy. MoFAI has developed the Model Framework Forest Act and is preparing an accompanying Legislative Guide as knowledge resources for legislators and policymakers in designing or revising national and subnational forest legal frameworks. MoFAI provies a systematic way to deliver expertise, efficiency and scale required to match the severity of the global forest crisis.

The event will launch the latest draft of the Model Framework Forest Act and the Executive Summary of the Legislative Guide. It will introduce the Act’s structure, rationale and principal elements; examine how it can support implementation of the KMGBF; and explore practical pathways for adapting its provisions to different legal systems, institutional settings and national priorities. 

The Model Framework Forest Act is designed as a framework law and legal blueprint rather than a prescriptive template. Its modular “shopping cart” approach enables jurisdictions to select and adapt provisions according to their legal traditions, policy priorities, ecological circumstances and implementation capacities. 

The Model Framework Forest Act and legislative guide are being developed by a high-level drafting committee comprised of global experts from the legal, policy and scientific disciplines, informed by consultations with diverse stakeholders from around the globe, as well as an Advisory Council providing technical inputs on specific aspects of the text. Since the launch of the initiative in July 2023, consultations have taken place in Nepal, Philippines, Indonesia, Rome, New York, Tokyo, and the Amazon region.

MoFAI is supported by a global alliance of partners to advance a global public good vital in safeguarding biodiversity, regulating and adapting to climate change, leveraging ecosystem services, and providing livelihoods and human well-being. The key partners include the Global Judicial Institute on the Environment (GJIE), Asian Development Bank (ADB), IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law (IUCN WCEL), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), UN Forum on Forests (UNFF), Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), the World Bank Group, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the UN Development Programme (UNDP), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Objectives

  • Launch the Model Framework Forest Act and the Executive Summary of the Legislative Guide as integrated knowledge resources for forest law modernization.
  • Present MoFAI’s approach to developing a structured, interdisciplinary, multi-stakeholder and adaptable model legal framework based on a “shopping cart” approach.
  • Highlight the relationship between forests and biodiversity, including the contribution of modern forest law to implementation of the KMGBF.
  • Convene global and regional leaders, policymakers and legislatures and international organizations to discuss dissemination, adaptation and practical implementation of the Model Framework Forest Act.

 

The Judicial Dialogue on Nature will provide a high-level forum for judges, policymakers and experts to exchange perspectives on the role of courts in protecting biodiversity and ecosystems, strengthening the environmental rule of law, and supporting effective implementation and enforcement of environmental laws. The dialogue will address the interconnected challenges of biodiversity loss, pollution and climate-related ecosystem stress, including their implications for forests, water resources and land.

Objectives

  • Exchanging insights and building awareness on the environmental rule of law: based on the historical evolution and recent developments in environmental governance, the participants in this dialogue will discuss the rising role of courts and judges in strengthening ecosystem protection and the importance of application of the environmental rule of law. 
  • Exploring legal perspectives on biodiversity protection: the event will illuminate intersections among biodiversity, water, pollution, and forests, and explore the role of legal frameworks and the need for effective implementation, compliance, and enforcement in addressing these interconnected issues in a coherent and consolidated way.
  • Exchanging good practices and identifying transferable lessons: experts, policymakers and judges will draw upon recent trends and developments in environmental law and governance, including through rights-based approaches, to explore how to translate them into domestic settings, and share good practices, transferable lessons, and common challenges in adjudicating disputes related to biodiversity.

News and Multimedia

Carbon Markets Toolkit