A rapid response report published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and INTERPOL is warning that eco-crime has hit a record $258 billion high, outstripping the illegal trade in small arms.

The value of environmental crime is 26 per cent larger than previous estimates, at $91-258 billion today compared to $70-213 billion in 2014,

The Rise of Environmental Crime, released on the eve of World Environment Day (WED), finds that weak laws and poorly funded security forces are enabling international criminal networks and armed rebels to profit from a trade that fuels conflicts, devastates ecosystems and is threatening species with extinction.

UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said:

"Interpol and UNEP have joined forces to bring to the attention of the world the sheer scale of environmental crime. The vast sums of money generated from these crimes keep sophisticated international criminal gangs in business, and fuel insecurity around the world.”

"The result is not only devastating to the environment and local economies, but to all those who are menaced by these criminal enterprises. The world needs to come together now to take strong national and international action to bring environmental crime to an end."

Environmental crime dwarfs the illegal trade in small arms, which is valued at about $3 billion. The amount of money lost due to environmental crime is 10,000 times greater than the amount of money spent by international agencies on combatting it - just $20-30 million.

Environmental crime is growing at alarming pace

INTERPOL Secretary General Jürgen Stock said:

"Environmental crime is growing at an alarming pace. The complexity of this type of criminality requires a multi-sector response underpinned by collaboration across borders. Through its global policing capabilities, INTERPOL is resolutely committed to working with its member countries to combat the organized crime networks active in environmental crime."

The report is calling for strong action, legislation and sanctions at the national and international level, including measures targeted at disrupting overseas tax havens; an increase in financial support commensurate with the serious threat that environmental crime poses to sustainable development; and economic incentives and alternative livelihoods for those at the bottom of the environmental crime chain.

Forestry crimes have major implications for water reserves, desertification and rainfall

The report warns that forestry crimes, from unregulated or illegal burning of charcoal to large-scale corporate crimes concerning timber, paper and pulp involving largescale deforestation, have major bearings on global climate emissions, water reserves, desertification schemes and rainfall.

The report cites the example of artisanal miners in the Amazon, who  tip 30 tonnes of the toxic metal mercury into the region’s rivers and lakes every year, poisoning fish and causing brain damage in humans living as far as 400km downstream.

Criminals are also directly threatening the climate: about 800 tonnes of ozone depleting substances had been seized by 2010, and in 2014 unwanted trade in more than 545 tonnes of ozone depleting substances including HCFCs and halons was prevented.

The report also looks at how money generated from the illegal exploitation of natural resources funds rebel groups, terrorist networks and international criminal cartels, noting that transnational organized criminal networks are using environmental crime to launder drug money.

International criminal cartels are also involved in the trafficking of hazardous waste and chemicals, often mislabelling this type of waste in order to evade law enforcement agencies. In 2013, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported that the illegal trade in e-waste to Southeast Asia and the Pacific was estimated at $3.75 billion annually.

White collar crime includes carbon market fraud

The report also looks at the rise of white collar environmental crime, from the use of shell companies in tax havens to launder money generated from illegal logging to transfer mispricing, hacking ,identity theft and fraudulent reclaiming of carbon credits, to mention a few, impeding and hindering development goals across sectors at both national and global levels..

Carbon trading is the world's fastest growing commodities market - the combined value of carbon pricing instruments were just under USD 50 billion in 2015. Carbon credit fraud cases have involved sums of transfers and profits that stretch into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Carbon taxes and emission system trade sales generated over USD 15 billion in government revenues across the world.  The vulnerability to crime of this trade derives from the market’s immaturity and the intangible nature of the product, which is based on “the lack of delivery of an invisible substance to no one.”

Some signs of success

Efforts to combat and reduce carbon credit fraud have been implemented such as in the EU, shutting down major parts of the trade especially on carbon credit VAT fraud.

In other crime areas, until recently, the Amazon rainforest had one of the highest deforestation rates in the world.: This trend was reversed with the largest victory against environmental crime to date, which took place in Brazil when the country launched an unprecedented crackdown on eco-criminals that saw teams of special forces, SWAT teams, satellite monitoring, intelligence officials and others from the country’s law enforcement agencies swoop on the cartels involved in the crimes. This reduced deforestation in the Amazon by 76 per cent in just five years.

Launched in 2003, the crackdown led to the handing out of fines totalling $3.9 billion, 700 arrests, the seizure of 1 million m3 of tropical timber and the confiscation or destruction of 11,000 properties, pieces of equipment and assets.

 “The example of Brazil shows what can be achieved when you have strong leadership,” said Steiner.

“In the case of Brazil, robust command and control centres, improved intelligence gathering, the use of satellites and the beefed up enforcement of protected areas dealt a severe blow to the criminals behind these heinous crimes and led to staggering environmental improvements.”

Solutions include strengthened environmental law and financial support

The report is putting forward a number of solutions, including:

Reduce threats to security and peace: Strengthen the information collection, analysis and sharing, across sectors, in peacekeeping missions, Sanctions Committees and across the UN as a whole on the role of natural resource exploitation in conflicts and security.

Rule of law: The international community must recognize and address environmental crimes as a serious threat to peace and sustainable development and strengthen the environmental rule of law at all levels to prevent safe havens including disrupting overseas tax havens, improve legislation at international and national levels, implement dissuasive penalties, substantial sanctions and punishments, capacity building and technological support, in order to enhance the enforcement and adjudication capacities in the area of environmental crime.

Leadership: Governments should establish central coordination and national cross-sectoral plans, in coordination with the relevant UN entities, INTERPOL, and other relevant international treaty bodies and institutions, to combat the involvement of criminal organized groups in environmental crimes.

Financial support: Call upon the international development community to recognize and address environmental crime as a serious threat to sustainable development and strengthen the share of ODA to governance and judicial sector reform including to combating and preventing environmental crime.

Economic incentives and consumer awareness: Strengthen economic incentives, relevant institutions and awareness.

According to the report, as transnational organized criminal groups become more established, their abilities to circumvent enforcement efforts increase, diversify and shift to new products.

Click here to read the report in full: THE RISE OF ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME - A GROWING THREAT TO NATURAL RESOURCES, PEACE, DEVELOPMENT AND SECURITY