From Cape Town to Rio: Minister George leads global call to turn words into Action on environmental crime

5 November 2025, Rio de Janeiro

Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Dr Dion George delivered the following address at the United for Wildlife Global Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 4 November 2025.

Speaking before world leaders and international conservation partners, Minister George reflected on South Africa’s role as custodian of more than eighty percent of Africa’s white rhino population and on the country’s leadership in uniting governments against environmental crime.

His speech carried forward the work begun under South Africa’s G20 Presidency, where the Cape Town Declaration on Crimes that Affect the Environment was adopted, marking the first time that major economies recognised environmental crime as organised crime.

In Rio, Dr George called for this principle to move from words to action, from commitment to consequence, and reaffirmed South Africa’s decisive steps to close the captive-bred lion industry, protect abalone under CITES, and oppose any reopening of trade in ivory or rhino horn.

See full transcript below:

Under the full moon, what our rangers call the poacher’s moon, the bush never sleeps. Its light exposes both the hunted and the hunter. It is a time of danger, but also of courage. South Africa is home to more than eighty percent of Africa’s white rhino population.

Our rangers stand guard through the night so that these animals may see another dawn. They do not stand for profit or prestige. They stand for something far greater. The belief that some things are too precious to lose. We protect our wildlife not only for our biodiversity, but for the world. These animals are part of humanity’s shared inheritance and our shared duty.

When the G20 Environment and Climate Ministers met in Cape Town, we brought that duty to the heart of global decision-making. For the first time, major economies agreed that crimes that affect the environment are not marginal issues. They are organised crimes that threaten our security, our economies, and our people.

The Cape Town Declaration called for united action and urged all nations to uphold their own laws and stop the trade in resources stolen from nature. That principle unites us: respect, accountability, and shared responsibility.

Here in Rio, it must move from words to action: from principle to protection, from commitment to consequence. We are closing the captive-bred lion industry, the only commercial lion industry in the world. We are recommending that dried abalone be listed under Appendix II of CITES. And we remain firmly opposed to reopening trade in ivory or rhino horn.

Every animal poached, every forest felled, every coastline stripped has a human cost.

When we unite against wildlife crime, we defend more than animals. We defend people. We defend economies. We defend hope.

May the poacher’s moon no longer be a sign of fear, but a reminder that even in darkness, the light can belong to those who protect.

For media enquiries, please contact:

Thobile Zulu-Molobi
Mobile: +27 82 513 7154 
E-mail: tmolobi@dffe.gov.za  

Chelsey Wilken
Mobile: +27 74 470 5996 
E-mail: cwilken@dffe.gov.za