2025 IUCN WCEL Nicholas Robinson Award for Excellence in Environmental Law and Policy: Cymie Payne, Francesco Sindico and Claudia de Windt
The announcement of this year's awardees was made during the 4th IUCN WCEL World Environmental Law Congress, held in Rabat (Morocco) earlier this month.
Photo: Hicham Abada
Photo: Hicham Abada
Photo: Hicham Abada
The IUCN WCEL Steering Committee unanimously decided that the 2025 recipients of the IUCN WCEL Nicholas Robinson Award for Excellence in Environmental Law and Policy are Prof. Cymie Payne, Prof. Francesco Sindico and Prof. Claudia de Windt.
As it is now tradition in WCEL, the announcement was made during the 4th edition of the Commission’s World Environmental Law Congress, held at the Hassan II International Centre for Environmental Training in Rabat, Morocco (from 5th to 7th May 2025).
As IUCN WCEL Chair Prof. Dr. Christina Voigt stated: the Nicholas Robinson recognises “those IUCN WCEL members who showed excellence, dedication and expertise in environmental law above and beyond everyone else”. In this regard, the 2025 awardees have demonstrated all of these by leading, together with Prof. Voigt, IUCN’s Advisory Opinion submissions before international tribunals:
IUCN WCEL Steering Committee member, Prof. Claudia de Windt, led the team which worked on IUCN's written submission (and also participated in the oral proceedings) before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) regarding the request for an advisory opinion to clarify the scope of State Obligations to respond to the climate emergency.
Similarly, Prof. Francesco Sindico, Co-Chair of the IUCN WCEL Climate Change Law Specialist Group, supervised IUCN's written and oral statements in the historic advisory proceedings before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change.
Prof. Cymie Payne, Chair of the IUCN WCEL Ocean Law Specialist Group, was also at the forefront of the group of experts which worked on IUCN's written and oral statements before the International Tribunal on the Law for the Sea (ITLOS) on case 31: "Request for an Advisory Opinion submitted by the Commission of Small Island States (COSIS) on Climate Change and International Law".
The IUCN WCEL community proudly congratulates this year awardees and thanks everyone who worked in these advisory opinion submissions on behalf of IUCN.