Chapter 6: 'Eco Crime', BLOCK 1. BOOK 1.

Question 1

INTRODUCTION: ‘ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AND ENVIRONMENTAL LAW’ for the protection of the environment.

Answer 1

1. This topic is important - as issues pertaining to the protection of the environment continue to capture centre stage of international policy
2. UNITED NATIONS INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE (IPCC) - has referred to global warming as a ‘weapon of mass destruction’ (IPCC, 2007).
3. The need to protect natural resources and stop environmental destruction is reflected in growing ‘ENVIRONMENTAL LAW’.
4. HOWEVER - ‘INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS’ to protect the natural environment and its resources require nation states to sign up and legally-bind themselves to the terms and conditions of those agreements, i.e through reforming domestic policy to meet agreed-upon objectives.
5. THAT SAID - Not all nation states sign up, and those that do often fail to implement required changes.
6. Many STATES and CORPORATIONS profit from wilful actions of ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION

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Question 2

DEBATE SURROUNDING POLLUTION

Answer 2

1. For many - the destruction of natural habitats and the pollution of oceans, waterways, atmosphere is a global catastrophe.
2. For others - including some states and corporations, it is a necessary by-product of commercial profit and capital accumulation.
3. The challenge for ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION and REGULATION is that it is superseded by TRADE LAW, whereby prosperity and quality of human life is viewed as paramount political and social objectives

Question 3

ENVIRONMENTAL COSTS OF CORPORATE ACTS

Answer 3

1. Wilful corporate acts of ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION and destruction sometimes occur within the law, but often not.
2. There are ENVIRONMENTAL COSTS to ensuring people have resources and technologies to enhance their lives.
3. EXAMPLES:
   a) Transporting oil for use in commercial machinery can result in OCEAN SPILLS
   b) Factories producing CLOTHING GOODS can produce high levels of pollutant air emissions, and can release toxic chemicals into the atmosphere AND WATERWAYS.
   c) Timber and logging can destroy habitats and biodiversity

Question 4

‘ECO CRIME’ - ILLEGAL OR LEGAL?

Answer 4

1. The term ‘ECO CRIME’ is a slippery one with different meanings and interpretations across different cultures and societies.
2. ECO CRIME comprises of a range of acts, not all of which are illegal in ALL jurisdictions.
3. SO - a problem for PREVENTION of acts that damage the environment is that they can be legal in some countries and not in others.
4. Most countries do NOT have environmental courts or judges.
5. Language of crime is often NOT used for this topic, as they use other terms such as offences or breaches etc
6. BUT - When governments do use language of environmental crime or ECO CRIME, this tends to refer to graffiti, fly tipping, vandalism etc. These are antisocial acts, but are minuscule compared to damage caused by large corporations/states/ or governments.

HOWEVER - as REIMAN (1979) said - crime more likely to be committed by ‘the powerful’ is less likely to be treated as a criminal offence.

Question 5

WHAT IS ECO CRIME?

1. HOME OFFICE, 2007 - Defines ‘ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME’ as fly tipping, littering, graffiti, and vandalism.
2. CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME - any environmental crime committed by a corporate body (ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIT COMMITTEE, 2005).

NOTE - This does not include ‘TRANSNATIONAL ISSUES’ mentioned in the Home Office definition, but do include issues to do with water, sewerage, and landfill.

Answer 5

1. From a legal perspective - ENVIRONMENTAL OFFENCES are NOT contained within either international or national criminal law.
2. They are dealt with as ADMINISTRATIVE OFFENCES and PROSECUTED in CIVIL COURTS.
3. Like ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR - it only becomes criminal when people breach terms and conditions of the court sanction (i.e ASBO’s).
4. CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME - any environmental crime committed by a corporate body (ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIT COMMITTEE, 2005).
5. Many countries - see ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES as acts of CIVILIAN DISORDER, and not as acts of serious ‘ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION’ caused by international corporations.
6. INDEED - INTERNATIONAL LAW and EU LAW do not define ECO CRIME. By this - INTERNATIONAL CRIMES included in INTERNATIONAL LAW are genocide, aggression, torture, terrorism, but not acts that destroy the environment.
7. ECO CRIME (preferred to environmental crime) - extends existing definitions of environmental crime to include license or lawful acts of degradation committed by states and corporations.
8. WESTRA (2004) - Her work broadens the definition of ECO CRIME to include issues of human health, global security and justice. That harmful environmental acts for FREE TRADE deprive POOR, MARGINALISED civilians of social, cultural, economic benefits of their environment.

10 For WESTRA (2004) - These actions are violent and should be deemed to violate HUMAN RIGHTS.

11. Furthermore, these actions have widespread social and cultural consequences as the examples below illustrate.

EXAMPLE 1 - In 1988 a US ship dumped 4000 tonnes of incinerator ash on a HAITIAN BEACH , and the HAITIAN people suffered skin diseases and vision disorders (UNEP, 19991).

EXAMPLE 2 - You could also tie this to toxic chemicals being dumped int Bangladeshi waters and causing harms such as skin diseases, blindness, pollution of drinking water etc.

Question 6

TRANSNATIONAL DIMENSIONS TO ECO CRIME - GLOBALLY.

Answer 6

1. INTERPOL (2007) - divides ECO CRIME into ‘POLLUTION and ‘WILDLIFE’.
2. This refers to illegal disposal of waste that contaminates air, water, land, and the unlawful trade in endangered species.
3. UNICRI - expands this and categorises ‘ECO CRIME’ as:

a) illegal trade in wildlife
b) illegal trade in Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS)
c) dumping/transport of illegal waste
d) illegal/unregulated fishing
e) illegal logging

4. All of these ECO CRIMES listed above are covered by law.
5. They are prohibited under ‘INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS’ that seek to protect the environment against hazardous/dangerous acts that threaten development and sustainability of flora and fauna.

CASE EXAMPLE - ILLEGAL TRADE IN INDIA:

Due to poor enforcement of law - Endangered wildlife are poached for illegal market for TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE (TCM) in India. By this, Indian government authorities evade national and international laws that protect endangered wildlife, who are targeted for their skins, trophies, medicinal purposes.

By this - governments, businesses, and consumers seek to benefit from trade at the expense of the
environment. More often than not they go unpunished.

This example shows the links between TRANSNATIONAL ORGANISED CRIME and the ENVIRONMENT. This involves state officials exploiting the environment for commercial gain.

6. Money made from from illegal trade in endangered species is often used to buy weapons, fund civil wars, commit ethnic cleansing. For example, the Janjaweed guerrilla militia in Africa.

Question 7

GREEN CRIMINOLOGY

Answer 7

1. GREEN CRIMINOLOGY - asserts that ECO CRIMES at both an INTERNATIONAL and DOMESTIC level should encapsulate all acts of ENVIRONMENTAL HARM to human and non-human species, and the natural environment itself (BEIRNE AND SOUTH, 2007).

Question 8

THE CORPORATE COLONISATION OF NATURE

Answer 8

1. SOUTH (2007) - argues that ‘speedy’ developments in globalised trade place the environment at greater risk of EXPLOITATION and DAMAGE.
2. ‘THE CORPORATE COLONISATION OF NATURE ‘ - This suggests that within competitive TRADE ECONOMIES, the environment becomes a target for commercial profit (SOUTH, 2007)

Question 9

BIOPIRACY

Answer 9

1. Environment is viewed as a commodity that provides valuable resources for goods and services.
2. BIOPIRACY - is the illegal practice of taking control and ownership of of organisms from plants and animals and depriving indigenous peoples both access to and benefit from their own ‘ECOLOGICAL SOVEREIGNTY’.
3. Many of these resources are to be found in rain forests, savannas, waterways in poor countries which become targets for exploitation by large multi-national companies for profit.

Question 10

CORPORATE ENGINEERING OF NATURE

CASE STUDY - ZAMBIA.

Answer 10

1. Alongside the Amazon Rain-forest - Africa is regarded as the most bio-diversity rich region on Earth.
2. However - its potential for diversity remains hidden and unexplored
3. Corporations threaten biodiversity not only through theft of flora, but through contamination or corporate engineering.
4. EXAMPLE - GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS (GMOS’s) are proposed and engineered as an answer to world hunger - CASE STUDY ZAMBIA.
5. HOWEVER - concerns of GM food safety made the news as the ZAMBIAN PRESIDENT said it was poison to the staple diet of Zambians, which generated a moral panic among the Zambian population (WALTERS, 2006)
6. EVIDENCE - It has been proven that seeds from GM plants owned by large corporations can irreversibly contaminate other plants (WALTERS, 2009). Furthermore, according to International patent law there is a risk that a vast amount of Zambian plant life will be claimed by the offshore corporations (Walters, 20090.
7. So Zambian government reject GM foods out of fear of potential harm to its population and biodiversity although there is a food shortage and people are starving.
8. DEBATE: For some - i.e geneticist, the stance the Zambian president is taking is incomprehensible, and US AMBASSADOR says that Zambia’s political leaders should be convicted as criminals for allowing their people to starve (Walters, 2006).
9. However -For the Zambian government - they argue that the external political pressure from countries such as the USA wanting to dump surplus and unwanted GM food is illegal and threatens the rich, natural genetic resources that the Zambian government wishes to protect.
10. GM products are controlled by 4 BIOTECHNOLOGY giants that use aggressive corporate policies of control in a ‘MONOPOLY CAPATALISM’ (WALTERS, 2006).
11. By this, it is argued that such ‘MONOPOLY CAPATALISM’ infringes human rights and international trade law and is in direct opposition to FREE TRADE POLICIES of the WTO.
12. The global trade in GM FOOD is lucrative for the government and for the 4 BIOTECHNOLOGY GIANTS giants: Monsato, Syngenta, Du pont, and Bayer (Nottingham, 2003).
13. SERIOUS CONCERNS INCLUDE - Biotech companies lobbying government officials, bribing and threatening of scientists, the theft and manipulation, subversion of scientific data, strategic placement of GM corporate employees on regulatory, funding, and government decision making bodies (Walters, 2009).
14. AS A CONSEQUENCE - public opposition to GM foods has seen boycotts across Europe severely affect the profits of BIOTECH COMPANIES, while steering governments away from planting GM CROPS (WALTERS, 2009).

Question 11

PREVENTING ECO CRIME AND PROMOTING ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE.

THE GUIDING LEGAL PRINCIPLES that help shape INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENT LAW to try and prevent ECO CRIME.

Answer 11

1. Ways to prevent ECO CRIMES include ‘existing legal approaches’ and ‘non-legal initiatives’ through ‘CONSUMER ACTION’ and ‘SOCIAL MOVEMENTS’.
2. Numerous ‘general principles’ have been formulated by the UN to guide, and also an important component of the development of all INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENT LAW directed at the prevention of ECO CRIME.
3. These ‘GUIDING LEGAL PRINCIPLES’ derive from the the RIO DECLARATION on ENVIRONMENT and DEVELOPMENT 1992 (UNEP, 1992).
4. However - it must be noted that there are ongoing deficiencies of OBLIGATION and COMPLIANCE under INTERNATIONAL REGULATIONS that reflected in these principles (HUNTER, 1998). For instance, if POWERFUL COUNTRIES such as China and the USA fail to sign up and acknowledge certain international treaties, how valid does this make these guiding principles and international law?
5. ISSUE OF COMPLIANCE - The law for preventing ECO CRIMES may not be effective as some countries do not incorporate international agreements into its own domestic law, as they have problems with implementation.
6. BY THIS - IMPLEMENTATION DEFICIT means some countries have a lack of technical and financial resources, cultural and religious factors, under resourced ministries etc to be able to implement international law int their domestic laws (UNEP, 2006).
7. EXAMPLE OF COMPLIANCE AND IMPLEMENTATION - The UK logging industry (£700 million per year British Industry) has an extensive body of law and policy in place to protect the environment (Thornton and Beckwith, 2004).
8. However - UK is the third largest importer of illegally logged timber with up to 3.2 million cubic metres of timber extracted from the Amazon rainforest sold in the UK for furniture etc
9. Thus - those nations that appear to exemplify compliance with regulations face ongoing challenges to curb illegal markets that exploit/damage the environment.

Question 12

INNOVATIONS IN LEGAL REGULATION OF ECO CRIME

Answer 12

1. QUESTION - How can ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE operate at a GLOBAL LEVEL?
2. ANSWER - A growing number of nations are signing up to an increasing number of ‘INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENTS’
3. A GLOBAL NETWORK of collective concern about the environment has emerged.
4. FOR EXAMPLE - One mechanism for upholding ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE has been mooted via proposed ‘INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENT COURT’.
5. THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL FOUNDATION established in 1988 - continues to promote, research, and collaborate with governments and NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS (NGO’s) to implement an INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENT COURT.
6. 130 Judges at the WORLD SUMMIT ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT - called for a unified ‘international court of the environment’ to strengthen existing legal framework of environmental governance to protect the worlds poor from environmental crimes.
7. EXAMPLE - Brazil is regularly exploited for its ‘genetic diversity’ and ‘richness’, and the Brazilian government supports an ‘INTERNATIONAL FORUM’ that can prosecute and sanction criminal activities beyond Brazil’s jurisdiction.
8. The UN and World Environment Organisation (WEO) sees the new role of environmental governance as one of not only punishment and sanction, but precaution, education, responsibility, and control, premised on notions of resolution and restorative justice.

Question 13

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE THROUGH ‘SOCIAL MOVEMENTS’ AND ‘CITIZEN PARTICIPATION’.

This refers to the coming together of state and non-state actors to redress the injustices of deforestation, wildlife crime, corporate pollution etc.

Answer 13

1. DISCOURSES OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE - are emerging from SOCIAL MOVEMENTS, CAMPAIGN ORGANISATIONS, and CITIZEN ACTION GROUPS.
2. This refers to the coming together of state and non - state actors to redress the injustices of deforestation, wildlife crime, corporate pollution etc.
3. It could be argued that citizens as consumers are best placed to influence THE STATE and CORPORATE PRACTICES by product boycotts, protests, political lobbying, and fair trade purchases (COCHRANE AND WALTERS, 2008).
4. Others might take part in political campaigns or direct action to disrupt activities that result in environmental damage - These people are known as ECO-TERRORISTS (ECO-TERRORISM)
5. EXAMPLES OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION in the regulation of crimes of the powerful:
   a) Public opposition to GM foods has seen boycotts across Europe severely affect the profits of BIOTECH COMPANIES, while steering governments away from planting GM CROPS (WALTERS, 2009).
   b) In USA - Groups and residents have influenced pollution controls and bringing illegal actions of corporations to justice (FOREMAN 1998).

C) Citizens work in conjunction with GREENPEACE, FRIENDS OF THE EARTH etc to demonstrate against toxic dumping, illegal trade in wildlife, and deforestation etc, successfully GETTING THESE ACTIONS prosecuted as ECO CRIMES.

Also - It could be argued that Notions of CORPORATE and SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY are another way forward to prevent ECO CRIME, as the corporate world has information, skills, policies and practices that could potentially be used fir CONSERVATION PURPOSES.

Question 14

ECO CRIME

Answer 14

1. ECO CRIME: Acts of environmental harm and ecological degradation. Illegal and/or harmful behaviour including threatening, damaging or destroying the natural environment.
    
    

 

 

 

 
 

Question 15

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

Answer 15

1. ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE - Advocates of environmental justice draw attention to the unequal distribution of ‘environmental harms’ (such as pollution, famine,) around the world and seek an equitable access to ‘environmental goods’ (such as nutritious food, clean air and water). Self-determination and participation in decision-making are key elements.
    

Question 16

GOVERNANCE

Answer 16

1. GOVERNANCE - The concept of ‘governance’, though often used in an eclectic and loose fashion, refers to any act, means or tactic of governing: whether that involves how to be governed, how to govern others, or how to govern oneself. Crucially, it draws attention to processes of governing not just through but beyond government.
    

Question 17

GREEN CRIMINOLOGY

Answer 17

1. GREEN CRIMINOLOGY - An emergent criminological perspective containing various perspectives on the nature of environmental crimes and harms. Green criminology is committed to the protection and conservation of environmental resources and the prevention of illegal acts that unnecessarily damage the natural environment.
    

Question 18

REGULATION

Answer 18

1. REGULATION: In general, regulation can refer to any series of rules or restrictions on behaviour. In contrast to criminal-justice based sanctions, such restrictions depend rather more on the less coercive forms of compliance: self regulation, co-regulation, or market regulation. It is typically applied to corporate and state harms and crimes.

Question 19

SIZE AND SCALE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HARMS/ECO CRIMES

Answer 19

1. Eco crime is a complex concept comprised of various dimensions, and can include a range of activities such as air pollution, illegal logging, chemical waste, and illegal killing of wildlife amongst others (Walters, 2019)
2. For instance, to give an indication into the size and scale of environmental harms as a result of ‘natural disasters, Asia is identified as being the hardest hit region (UNISDR, 2007).
3. Bangladesh is recognised to be the worst affected country with 5000 killed in 2007 alone due to cyclones and flooding (UNISDR, 2008)
4. Harms such as skin diseases and blindness as a result of illegally dumped toxic waste are reported among Bangladeshi children (Independent Bangladesh, 2008)
5. Furthermore, there were 339 incidents of disaster in 2007 worldwide (UNISDR), with an estimated death toll of 16,517, and a further 197 million affected (Muncie, Talbot, and Walters, 2019).

Question 20

HOW CORPORATIONS THAT COMMIT ECO CRIMES EVADE PUNISHMENT

Answer 20

1. it is acknowledged that corporate acts of environmental pollution can be legal in some countries, it is argued that in others they are not (Walters, 2019)
2. According to UNESCO (2008), events that damage the environment such as environmental pollution and natural disasters are often a consequence of non-natural or human input (Muncie, Talbot, and Walters, 2019)
3. Nevertheless, transnational organised crime involving state officials and corporate activity that exploits the environment is rarely punished (Walters, 2019)
4. Eco crimes committed for economic advantage (Westra, 2004) by corporations are seldom prosecuted as government authorities often evade national and international laws that protect endangered wildlife (Walters, 2019)
5. EXAMPLE - POOR GOVERNMENT ENFORCEMENT of the law by the Chinese authorities aids the illegal poaching of endangered wildlife which feeds the illegal market for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) (Inter Press Service (IPS), 2008).
6. Moreover, nation states that sign ‘international agreements’ seeking to protect the natural environment and its natural resources often fail to implement such changes into domestic policies (Walters, 2019)
7. It is argued that international agreements and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) consequently facilitate acts such as biopiracy as they permit corporations to assert trade-related intellectual property rights (Walters, 2019, p.190).
8. In turn, transnational corporations exert corporate and political power to ensure government officials and businesses in poorer countries sign agreements that override plant and animal protections (White, 2008, p.134).
9. As a consequence, indigenous people such as those from the Amazon region in Brazil experience harm from biopiracy (Inter Press Service (IPS), 2008) through being denied ‘ecological sovereignty;’ the right to use and benefit from its own natural resources (Walters, 2019)
10. Furthermore, biotech companies threatening biodiversity through ‘corporate engineering’ of genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) are argued to avoid prosecution through corporate lobbying of government officials, as global trade in GM food proves lucrative for both parties (Walters, 2019)

Question 21

GREEN CRIMINOLOGY AS A SOCIAL HARM APPROACH

Answer 21

1. GREEN CRIMINOLOGY - is argued to recognise and explore acts that result in widespread social and environmental harm that tend not to be covered in legal statutes (Walters, 2019)
2. Muncie (2006) states that green criminology locates eco crime in relations of power, oppression, and selective processes of criminalisation (Walters, 2019, p.187).
3. As a consequence, green criminology is a social harm approach that points to those harms and eco crimes that are committed by ‘powerful’ governments and transnational corporations against ordinary people, and by ordinary people.
4. Indeed, White (2008) argues that green criminology in its broadness acknowledges all environmental harm to human, non-human species, and the natural environment at domestic and international levels (Walters, 2019)
5. For White (2008), this is due to three ‘theoretical tendencies’ that inform green criminology; environmental justice, ecological justice, and species justice (White, 2008)
6. In effect, ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE assesses fairness for access and use of environmental resources across social and cultural divides, and explores how the ‘powerless’ are harmed by natural disasters caused by corporate activity and state actions (Walters, 2019).
7. Equally as important - ECOLOGICAL JUSTICE focuses on interaction between humans and the natural environment.
8. SPECIES JUSTICE emphasises the importance of non-human rights (Walters, 2019).
9. However, a potential weakness of green criminology is that it is remains an underdeveloped ‘criminological narrative’ (Walters, 2019)