In a victory for rhinos and elephants, the 20th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP20) to CITES has voted overwhelmingly to reject proposals submitted by Namibia to overturn the bans on international commercial trade in rhino horn and elephant ivory. Namibia submitted three proposals which, if adopted, would have allowed international trade in its stockpiles of white rhino horn, black rhino horn and African savanna elephant ivory - a move that would drive increased demand for these products and potentially unleash a new wave of poaching and illegal trade. Parties engaged in intense discussions with several rhino and/or elephant range states such as Kenya, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Niger, along with the EU, UK and US voicing concerns for wildlife populations if trade in rhino horn and ivory were allowed. Meanwhile Japan, China, Botswana and Tanzania were among those who supported Namibia's proposals. EIA Senior Wildlife Policy Analyst (Rhinos) Taylor Tench intervened on the white rhino proposal to support the views expressed by Kenya and others, urging parties to oppose the proposal given the destructive impacts its adoption would have on wild rhino populations. We also highlighted that allowing trade to resume would effectively reverse decades of demand-reduction and enforcement progress.