Combating transnational environmental crime

Abstract

Environmental crime is a serious and growing international problem, and one which takes many different forms. It is not limited to criminals polluting the air, water and land and pushing commercially valuable wildlife species closer to extinction; it can also include crimes which speed up climate change, destroy fish stocks, annihilate forests and exhaust essential natural resources. These crimes can have a harmful impact on the economies and security of multiple nations, in some cases they may even threaten the very existence of a country or people. Furthermore, a significant proportion of both wildlife crime and pollution crime cases point to the involvement of organized crime networks. This is evidenced by the detailed planning of operations, substantial financial support, the careful management of international shipments and massive profits. Still, to date, transnational environmental crime has been poorly attended to by the transnational organised crime and transnational policing discourse. National and international institutions have prioritised other forms of organised crime, giving little thought to the nuances of environmental crime and how they should be reflected in policing. Intention of this paper is to point out the importance of international cooperation and to point out the its good examples.