Transnational Crime Flashcards
What is environmental crime?
Acts or activities that are a violation of environmental legislation and causes significant harm to the environment and human health (UNEP, 2021)
Types of environmental crime
Illegal logging & Timber Trade
Illegal fisheries
Illegal wildlife trade and poaching
Illegal mining and trade in minerals
Illegal waste trafficking and dumping
What is the estimated value of illegal logging annually?
Between 30-100 billion dollars
How much does illegal logging increase by every year?
5%
What are the impacts of illegal logging?
-Loss of Biodiversity
-Deforestation
-Threatening the livelihood of those reliant on forest resources
-Climate change
What is an example of threatened livelihood for those reliant on forest resources?
Clearing land can cause landslides and denies forest dependent communities access to food, medicine and fuel (Interpol, 2012)
What are the most affected areas for illegal logging?
Amazon Basin, Central Africa and Southeast Asia
What is illegal logging and timber trade?
Harvesting wood in violation of regulations for example harvesting timber from protected areas, felling protected species and exceeding logging quotas (INTERPOL, 2017)
What are the successes of combatting illegal logging?
In mid 2000s in Amazon Basin, they attributed to a short-term law enforcement effort. However, long term trends showed that it was temporary
What are the failures of combatting illegal logging?
Decline in illegal logging is due to more advanced laundering operations masking criminal activities and not due to an overall decline in illegal logging
Companies make money clearing forests and impoverished farmers convert forest land into farmland
Other scams include falsification of eco-certification
What are the organisations that stop environmental crime?
- Worlds customs organisation
- UN office for drugs and crime
- Interpol
- World bank
- CITE
What is illegal fisheries?
A range of illegal activities in the fisheries sector including illegal fishing, drug trafficking, money laundering, corruption and document fraud
What is the estimated value for fish?
23 billion dollars
What are the impacts of illegal fisheries?
Income and employment in fisheries and other industries and activities in the supply chain
Biodiversity
The growth of various forms of organised crime
Threat to food supply
What are the failures of combatting illegal fisheries?
Criminal activities are difficult to detect and the offenders are difficult to investigate and prosecute
Pursuing the vessels and the persons on board withthem, coupled with the difficulty of identifying vessels, vessel movement and ownership which undermines law enforcement action (Nellemann et al, 2016)
What are the causes of illegal logging?
Weaknesses and laxity in forest governance
Illegal charcoal, furniture and timber trade
Profit motives
Lack of education and awareness about the importance of protecting the environment
Environmental crimes are seen as victimless as it’s not directed at a person and no immediate consequences
What are the various organised crimes illegal fisheries creates?
Drug trafficking
Human trafficking
Fraud
Terrorism
Arm trafficking
What are the causes of illegal fisheries?
Fishing licenses are issued am under poor regulatory procedures
Being caught, cost of fines and prosecution are relatively low compared to the huge profits that can be made by doing activities involving illegal fisheries