PIRT Environmental Law Working Group / PacNEL

Dear Pacific Environmental Law Network colleagues,

The Pacific Islands Roundtable for Nature Conservation Framework 2026-2030 is being developed, and as Co-Chairs of the Environmental Law Working Group / PacNEL, we are to convey our members' comments on the structural changes proposed in the new Framework . We would be grateful for your comments and suggestions on the draft attached, specifically:

1. Regional environmental law priorities 2026-2030 (if possible, grouped by the cross-cutting themes of ocean, islands, culture)

2. Regional threats to environmental law 2026-2030 (again, if possible, grouped by the cross-cutting themes)

3. Current or emerging collaborations or partnerships, which you view as central to regional-scale work on environmental law.

Dear Pacific law colleagues, 

My name is Julie Melrose, Special Counsel at the Environmental Defenders Office (Australia), based in Samoa. I am also a new co-chair of PacNEL.

I am writing to invite your participation in a scoping study assessing the current and future legal capacity for ocean conservation in the Asia-Pacific region. 

The project is a global collaboration led by four organizations: Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW), the Asian Research Institute for Environmental Law (ARIEL), Natural Justice (NJ), and the Interamerican Association for Environmenta

l Defense (AIDA). ARIEL (Rocky Guzman and Coleen Salamat) and EDO (Julie Melrose) co-lead the work for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Together, the organizations aim to better understand the current and future state of legal capacity within civil society and public institutions working on ocean issues.

The Ross Ray QC Scholarship program supports two South Pacific lawyers to attend the Australian Bar Association’s prestigious Essential Trial Advocacy Course held in Adelaide, Australia from 22 June – 26 June 2026.

The Australian Bar Association and Law Council of Australia are partnering to provide two scholarships, each valued at up to AUD $8,000.

The scholarship includes:

•     Return economy airfares and transfers

•     Accommodation and main meals for up to 5 nights in Adelaide

•     Registration

Climate change and organized crime are increasingly interconnected global challenges. Organized crime in the Pacific Islands is growing in scale, diversification, sophistication and harm. The region’s largest organized criminal markets include fauna crimes (as well as financial crimes and human trafficking), with illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and illegal logging among the most widespread forms of environmental crime. These crimes contribute directly to environmental degradation by reducing carbon sequestration, damaging ecosystems, and threatening biodiversity.This report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime examines how climate change and organized crime form a mutually reinforcing cycle that erodes stability across the region.