The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) announced on 30 December 2013 that it had awarded the 2013 International Environmental Law Award to John E. Scanlon, Secretary General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The annual award recognises individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the effort to achieve solutions to environmental problems through international law and institutions.

Mr Scanlon has been honoured for his lifelong contributions to safeguarding environmental integrity and human rights in the management of river basins and dams, to the understanding of the indispensable role of public participation in international environmental governance, and for his ongoing leadership of CITES.

“Mr Scanlon has made significant contributions to our understanding of the intersecting legal, ethical and environmental dimensions--and values--that must inform water governance in the 21st century and beyond,” said CIEL President Carroll Muffett. He also noted Mr Scanlon’s leadership on environmental law within the International Union for Conservation of Nature and on work on international environmental governance within UNEP.

As CITES celebrates its 40th year, the award also recognizes Mr Scanlon’s role in fostering a maturing understanding of the Convention and in the recognition of CITES’s major role in achieving long term goals for the conservation of biological diversity.

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