EU Statement at UNTOC COP13 on the resolution establishing an Ad Hoc Committee tasked with elaborating an additional protocol on crimes that affect the environment, 23 October 2026

Mr. President,

The European Union and its Member States welcome the adoption of the resolution establishing an Ad Hoc Committee tasked with elaborating an additional protocol on crimes that affect the environment. We thank Brazil and all other co-sponsors for their leadership in advancing the work of this Conference of Parties on such a critical and pressing issue for the international community. 

Crimes that affect the environment have evolved into a highly sophisticated, industrial-scale form of transnational organised crime. They generate billions in criminal wealth, fuel corruption, strip local populations of natural resources and their livelihoods and have severe impacts on ecosystems, human and public health, the rule of law and international security. 

Associated challenges encompass not only wildlife trafficking, unlawful waste dumping and trafficking, as well as illegal mining but a broader spectrum of crimes that affect the environment, which directly accelerate the triple planetary crisis of pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss. The European Union and its Member States reaffirm their strong commitment to protecting the environment and strengthen the global response to environmental crime through criminal law and its enforcement. 

We stress our responses should be inclusive and evidence-based, ensure meaningful participation and consider the needs and leadership of women and girls, children and youth, persons with disabilities and persons in vulnerable situations. Environmental human rights defenders and environmental activists who are at the frontline of environmental protection are facing severe threats. It is crucial that attacks against environmental and land defenders are thoroughly investigated and prosecuted, and that national authorities have the capacity and tools to protect those at risk.

The EU welcomes the establishment of an Ad Hoc Committee for the purpose of elaborating an additional protocol to the Palermo Convention as a critical multilateral step toward strengthening international cooperation to prevent and combat crimes that affect the environment. 

Mr President,

As we embark on this process, the EU advocates for a protocol with a broad scope, addressing trafficking in wild fauna and flora, including timber and timber products, the illegal mining of and illicit trafficking in minerals and precious metals, and illicit trafficking in waste as well as other crimes that affect the environment, consistent with General Assembly resolution 80/227 adopted by consensus on 18 December 2025. 

We believe that the future UNTOC protocol should strengthen international cooperation, harmonize criminal justice responses and complement existing international instruments, while providing for effective technical assistance and capacity-building including through the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and all relevant UN Agencies, without interfering with existing multilateral environmental agreements. 

Mr President,

The commitment to the rule of law and the preservation of our environment as the foundations of our lives are two sides of the same coin and must go hand in hand. 

The EU stands ready to engage constructively in the future Ad Hoc Committee to achieve an ambitious, comprehensive and effective instrument, as a crucial contribution to the rule of law and the protection of the foundations of all our lives. 

Thank you.