17
at least four years or more. A definitive definition of environ-
mental crime, which is enforceable throughout the transna-
tional crime chain, is therefore urgently needed to ensure a
common understanding of the terminology.
Legislation on environmental crimes in many countries is
under-developed. Sentencing guidelines typically address petty
crimes and do not reflect the very serious nature and involve-
ment of organized crime and the impacts it has on environment,
economic and social development of the countries and local
communities or populations. They do not take into account the
sheer scale of loss of resources, money laundering or threats to
state security involved. Existing laws inmost countries are already
in place to address such serious crimes, but there is a consider-
able lack of awareness of how environmental crime often falls
into other categories of far more serious violations. Often the
wrong laws, such as those pertaining to pure environmental
violations are applied in court, rather than those addressing the
involvement of organized crime, tax fraud, violence, trafficking
and even funding of non-state armed groups.
The lack of information regarding the role of environmental
crime in threat finance – the financing of criminal networks
and non-state armed groups including militias, extremists and
terrorism – thus lead to comparatively trivial sentences of only
minimal fines and occasionally short-term prison sentences.
Insufficient investigation of the role of networks in environ-
mental crime, which in many cases in practice constitutes
threat finance, too often leads to failure in prosecution. This gap
is being heavily exploited by organized crime to exploit natural
resources, expand their illicit business sectors and contribute to
conflicts with little or no risk. The low risk of illegal trading in
New and old trafficking routes
Drugs
E-crimes
Illegal
fishing
Illegal trafficking
of toxic wastes
Wildlife trafficking
200
50
100
30
23
12
20
Illegal logging and
trafficking
Annual revenue, higher estimates
Billion dollars
A growing sector
Illegal
trafficking of
light weapons
“Traditional” illegal trafficking.
Includes heroin, cocaine and
human beings
Main destination country
Main transit country
Country of origin of “traditional”
illegal trafficking
Main country or region of origin of
environmental related illegal trafficking
Environment-related illegal trafficking.
Includes wood, wildlife, animal parts
(i.e.ivory, rhinocerous horns and fur) and
wastes
Main illegal, unreported and
unregulated fishing areas
Sources: UNODC Annual Reports 2010 e 2013;
WWF-Australia; Globaltimber.co.uk, Estimates of the
percentage of “Illegal Timber” in the imports of wood-based
products from selected countries, 2007; TRAFFIC; FAO;
World Ocean Review Report 2013; Michigan State
University, Human Trafficking Task Force; Greenpeace, The
Toxic Ship, 2010; National Geographic press review.
Sources: TRAFFIC; FAO; UNODC;
Global Financial Integrity
Figure 2.
Number of transactions registered in wildlife and
plants by CITES.
