The IUCN Environmental Law Centre (ELC) has a proud history of achievements and long-standing association with the City of Bonn where it was first established in 1970.

From modest beginning through the efforts of Françoise and Wolfgang Burhenne, the ELC has grown from having one full-time staff to being an international office with highly skilled specialists. It is today recognized around the world as a leading global centre of excellence in environmental law and policy contributing to establishing the legal architecture for sustainability and the protection of the nature and the environment. Among others, the ELC has pioneered the development of international conventions such as CITES, CMS, CBD and many others, as well as the related legislation for their implementation.  

The ELC houses one of the most extensive libraries on environmental law and is the management unit for ECOLEX - ‘The Gateway to Environmental Law’ ( www.ecolex.org), a web-based information system operated jointly with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), IUCN and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Because of the extensive efforts made by the ELC in terms of environmental conservation, the Federal German Government granted IUCN the status of an intergovernmental organization, reaffirming its position in Europe and beyond.

Up until 2020, the ELC was the only unit located in Bonn. IUCN has now the prospect to consolidate and expand its presence in Germany and has already established the regional office for Europe together with other thematic areas such as climate change, drylands, forests and oceans, building up a wider programmatic centre.

The ELC will remain the foundation of the IUCN presence in the city of Bonn and the custodian of a discipline of critical importance in the field of conservation and sustainability closely associated to Bonn.