As the world urgently seeks new ways to meet climate action objectives, tackling organized crimes that affect the environment – which cause untold harm to the natural world around us – can help countries and communities avert environmental disaster.
Two of these crimes, illegal deforestation and illegal mining, stand as dual threats to our planet's future, fuelling global warming and endangering ecosystems and communities.
Between 1990 and 2020, the world lost over 420 hectares of forests. Annually, deforestation contributes to a staggering 11 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions.
As Ghada Waly, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), has noted: “Crime and corruption are enablers of many activities that are driving forest loss, and yet crime prevention and criminal justice have largely been absent from the discussion.”
Illegal mining is exacerbating the problem, with the race for the critical materials needed to produce ‘green’, environmentally-friendly technology paradoxically fuelling a surge in the crime. Wind turbines, solar panels, batteries for electric vehicles, electrolysers and more require minerals like lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper, and rare earth elements. Illegal miners have quickly stepped in to fill the burgeoning demand, ravaging landscapes, degrading natural habitats and disrupting critical carbon sinks.
As demand for critical materials surges, corruption and organized crime risks do as well. With the presence of green mineral deposits and mining industries, several countries are particularly susceptible to these dangers due to skyrocketing prices on international markets and vulnerabilities across supply chains.
Robust law enforcement is crucial for protecting forests and natural carbon sinks from degradation and illegal exploitation. Due to the scale, complexity, and transnational nature of the challenge, an effective response that incorporates multiple agencies, regional cooperation, and information sharing between the authorities of source countries and destination markets of these materials is needed.
UNODC is working to elevate the issues of illegal deforestation and illegal mining as urgent priorities.
In Peru, UNODC collaborates closely with experts from the Specialized Environmental Prosecutors Offices, the Timber Technological Innovation Center, National Agrarian University, and more to develop a Timber Identification Mobile App, providing Peruvian authorities with efficient access to technical information for detecting and inspecting timber shipments.
Support was also provided to establish a national inter-agency Forest Platform, improving collaboration in combating illegal activities in the forestry sector. Referring to the training, Jesús Rivera, judge at the 5th Preparatory Investigation Court of the Judicial Power, noted that he could “experience how the exploitation and transformation of forest resources take place, which has been very valuable for us because it truly represents an approach to environmental justice for the population."
Moreover, UNODC recently organized the "Interstate Pará-Amazonas Dialogue for Combating Forest Crimes" in Manaus, Brazil, as part of the CRIMFLO project, focusing on the pressing issues of illegal deforestation and timber trafficking in the Brazilian Amazon. Rafael Kurkowski, Public Prosecutor, noted that “it is not enough for the Public Prosecutor’s Office to do they work if the other institutions don’t do theirs. That is why interaction between institutions is necessary.’’
In West and Central Africa, UNODC's specialized training has led to significant seizures of gold and precious metals, addressing the pervasive gold trafficking network in the region, often intertwined with money laundering from other criminal activities.
UNODC has also developed a legislative guide for Responding to Illegal Mining and Trafficking in Metals and Minerals.
Furthermore, through the newly-created Inter-Divisional Task Team on Minerals Trafficking, UNODC is assisting Member States in conducting rapid assessments of vulnerabilities along supply chains and strengthening legal frameworks on illegal mining and the illicit trafficking in precious metals.
Law enforcement agencies across the world play a significant part in preventing and combating crimes that affect the environment, including illegal deforestation and illegal mining.
At COP28, UNODC is strongly advocating for the integration of the justice system’s response to crimes that affect the environment into climate action. In this regard, UNODC participated in two side events on 3 December under the banner of the International Initiative of Law Enforcement of Climate (I2LEC), which was recently launched through its strategic partnership with the Ministry of Interior of the United Arab Emirates. I2LEC aims to unite law enforcement agencies from across the world to raise their awareness and strengthen their ability to address crimes that affect the environment and other risks associated with climate change that fall within their mandate.
On 3 December, UNODC and the Ministry of Interior of the United Arab Emirates co-organized a climate resilience ministerial forum on empowering law enforcement to protect biodiversity, promote peace and ensure climate recovery and resilience. Addressing the urgent need to safeguard biodiversity and vulnerable communities, with a focus on the essential role of law enforcement, the ministerial forum marked the first-ever participation of the global law enforcement community at the COP and launched the Abu Dhabi Call to Action on Supporting and Enhancing the Role of Law Enforcement Agencies in the Fight against Crimes that Affect the Environment. The call to action affirms the necessity to support and equip law enforcement agencies with the skills, tools, and resources to upscale their capacities and preparedness to respond to crimes that affect the environment and to climate-related disasters. It has been endorsed by all 48 law enforcement agencies that have joined I2LEC, in addition to Afripol, Ameripol, Aseanapol, the Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police (ACCP), and supported by Europol.
Additionally, on 1 December, UNODC organized, in partnership with the Convention on Biological Diversity, a high-level side event on the impact of crimes that affect the environment on natural carbon sinks and ecosystem resilience. The event reinforced the biodiversity-climate nexus, highlighting key approaches to increasing ecosystems’ resilience, including safeguarding and enhancing Earth’s carbon sinks while protecting human rights; expanding and promoting the role of youth in preventing corruption linked to biodiversity and climate change; and collaboration across environmental and climate authorities, maritime actors, and the justice system.
In addition, on 3 December, UNODC and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) held a side event on the impact of crime on critical material supply chains for the green energy transition.The event discussed the importance of robust legal and policy frameworks as well as enforcement mechanisms, responsible sourcing practices and traceability systems to ensure sustainability, transparency, and accountability along critical material supply chains.
On 9 December, UNODC will participate in the side event Responsible Value Chains: New Deforestation Regulation in the European Union to be held in the pavilion of Spain. With the introduction of the new Deforestation Regulation in the European Union, there is a clear trend towards stricter oversight of supply chain activities, particularly in relation to deforestation. The event will delve into these trends, emphasizing the need for transparency and accountability throughout value chains and highlighting the increasing alignment of regulations with sustainability objectives.
