South Africa backs talks on UN environmental-crime protocol

Thursday 5th November 2026

By inAfrika Newsroom

South Africa said on 5 November that it would help shape a proposed United Nations protocol against organised environmental crime, following an October decision to open negotiations on the instrument.

Environment Minister David Maynier said the initiative covers trafficking in wildlife and timber, illegal mining and trafficking in minerals and precious metals, and illicit waste trafficking, SAnews reported. The government said its environmental, police, prosecutorial and diplomatic agencies had worked together to support the process.

Parties to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime agreed to establish a negotiating committee at their Vienna meeting on 23 October. The vote was 83 in favour, 12 against and 27 abstentions, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The decision starts the drafting process; it does not mean that a final protocol has been adopted or entered into force. IUCN said the committee would hold four sessions, aiming to submit a draft to the convention’s next conference in October 2028, if possible.

The proposed instrument would supplement the convention’s framework for cross-border criminal cooperation. South Africa said differences between national laws and weaknesses in international cooperation can complicate investigations into networks that exploit legitimate supply chains and conceal illicit proceeds.

The government said it would continue intelligence sharing, joint investigations and cooperation with other countries while negotiations proceed. IUCN identified the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mauritania and São Tomé and Príncipe among the countries that proposed the resolution.

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