Great news!
we would like to Thank Everyone Who Supported Our ‘Give Wildlife Crime The Severity That It Deserves’ Campaign!
As the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC COP13) wrapped up on Friday, October 23, 2026, breakthrough news came out of UN Headquarters in Vienna: State Parties officially voted to launch negotiations for a historic, first-ever legally binding UN Protocol against Environmental Crime!
The final vote on Resolution L.4 was a decisive victory for global wildlife protection:
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🟢 83 IN FAVOUR (Including Canada! 🇨🇦)
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🔴 12 Against
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⚪ 27 Abstentions
This marks a monumental shift in international law. For years, transnational wildlife trafficking—a $199 billion global black market run by organized criminal syndicates—has been treated as a minor offense. World leaders have now formally recognized that environmental crime is serious, organized transnational crime, requiring coordinated global law enforcement.
Canada Shifted Its Stance – And Your Voices Helped Drive It
What began as a Canadian campaign quickly expanded into a worldwide public action initiative. Partnering with World Elephant Day (Give Wildlife Crime The Severity That It Deserves), Elephanatics scaled our outreach globally so people anywhere in the world could email our government leaders directly and demand action.
The result? Canada didn’t just vote IN FAVOUR in Vienna—the Canadian delegation delivered a strong official statement pledging support for robust international legal frameworks targeting environmental syndicates.
To every single advocate who sent a letter, shared a post, or brought this issue into their classroom: thank you. Your voice made a direct impact on Canadian foreign policy.
What Happens Next? The 2-Year Negotiation Window (2026–2028)
Winning the vote at UNTOC COP13 in Vienna opened the door for global leaders and legal experts to do what they do best.
Over the next two years, the newly established UN Ad Hoc Committee—led by key champion nations like Brazil and supported by legal experts—will draft the official treaty text ahead of COP14 in 2028.
During this technical drafting phase, international experts and coalitions will focus on:
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Closing Legal Loopholes: Establishing universal legal definitions, cross-border enforcement protocols, and extradition guidelines to target environmental syndicates.
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Amplifying Civil Society: Working with global coalitions like the Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime (GIEWC) to submit expert recommendations to drafting committees.
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Maintaining Momentum: Encouraging participating nations to stay committed to a strict, enforceable final agreement.
How Elephanatics Will Keep You Updated
Our major public campaign drive reached its milestone victory with the Vienna vote. As diplomats and legal experts take over the technical drafting phase, Elephanatics will pivot to a monitoring, reporting, and amplifying role.
We will track the negotiation rounds, share updates from leading coalitions like GIEWC, and keep our community informed as this historic treaty takes shape between now and 2028.
How You Can Stay Involved:
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📧 Subscribe to Our Newsletter: Get periodic, behind-the-scenes updates as treaty negotiations progress between now and 2028.
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🍎 Teachers & Educators: Our UNTOC Civic Action Toolkit is still available! It serves as a real-world case study showing students how citizen engagement directly influences global policy.
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📲 Follow Us: Stay connected with us on social media for real-time policy alerts.
Together, we have shown that public advocacy works. Thank you for standing with us to secure a safer future for elephants, wildlife and our planet.
Elephanatics Team