New York, 5 January 2022 (TDI): With climate change already being a globally pressing issue, a tweet was posted by Inger Anderson, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Executive Director, highlighting the devastating situations around the globe that are worsening the eco-system around the world with climate change crimes.
Illegal logging. Dumping of waste. Wildlife crime. Traffic in hazardous substances. Illegal fishing
Environmental crimes damage #peace, #security and stability everywhere. https://t.co/Fn4DXp0qQA
— Inger Andersen (@andersen_inger) January 4, 2022
A virtual conference was conducted on the issue of climate change. The event was called “Financial Action Task Force (FATF) High-level conference: Partnering for Greater Impact – Environmental Crime“. The Executive Director initiated her speech by thanking the Financial Action Task Force for their efforts to conduct this event.
She then outlined the deteriorating situation of the environment occurring throughout the world, specifically highlighting the issue of loss of biodiversity which will have impacts on humanity’s food supply. This is a result of mass pollution occurring throughout which is also taking millions of people’s lives annually.
She then discussed environmental crime as one of the driving forces behind this situation along with the whole system the world follows. She also emphasized how there was an inherent need to decrease the level of these crimes occurring throughout the world.
She outlined the aim set within the recent Climate Change Conference held in Glasgow to eradicate deforestation by the year 2030. However, it was also important to note that illegal logging accounted for assisting the timber trade by 15-30%, saying these numbers speak for themselves when it comes to highlighting the failure of the system that encompasses the world today.
Similar was the case for illegal fishing, while the 2030 sustainability goals emphasize finishing global poverty hunger, the act of illegal fishing equals to US 6.4 billion dollars annually.
While there are many regulations in place for hazardous substances such as the banning of e-waste refrigerant gases, yet transnational gangs of criminals along with unscrupulous companies not only dump waste ill legally but also traffic substances that are banned.
These result in major health issues especially faced by marginalized communities. This is also consistent across the illegal selling and smuggling or rare and endangered species.
Implications of such actions
Inger Anderson outlined that such activities have large effects on the world socio-economic and peace situation. Such crimes that are environmentally damaging result in USD 91-259 billion dollars going in the possession of criminals every year, which leads to a decrease in the amount of tax revenue the government could contribute to public expenditure.
This, as a result, leads to a fall in the could-be sustainable livelihoods that could have been established, due to unscrupulous actors taking advantage of the resources of low-income communities who lack protection.
She highlighted the Financial Task force’s efforts to battle such actors in the world but also highlighted the strong point where there was a need for support for their efforts, from stronger environmental law to greater commitments from world states, civil societies as well as international organizations.
She gave the example of repressing illegitimate financial flows that could result in decreasing the financial gap of USD 200 billion every year as one of the actions that could assist in curbing these crimes. Later on, highlighting the actions that can be carried out by several actors.
Global Actors
Inger Anderson highlighted the damages to wildlife along with natural resources and the trade of hazardous substances that criminal gangs usually traffic such material across borders.
UNEP already had many multi-lateral agreements with several countries to identify such actions and curb them, she highlighted that UNEP will take full actions to strengthen these agreements as well as to follow up on their progress, and specifically focus on transnational trade.
She also emphasized the need for tighter border controls; the Green Customs Initiative, an initiative proposed by the UNEP already assists in providing such controls. She specifically highlighted the efforts made with the Dominican Republic to carry out the Green Customs Curriculum, stating UNEP was working hard with its partners to curb the problems highlighted above.
Regional Actors
Inger Anderson also highlighted the efforts of the UNEP in regional areas and seas stating the regional seas and treaties action plans that were initiated by the international organization, some of which include the regulation of marine litter along with pollution caused by plastic waste.
She also gave the example of the Regional Enforcement Network for Chemicals and Waste where the UNEP assisted 25 countries within the Asian-Pacific region to have greater controls when it comes to chemical waste along with harmful products.
National Actors
She further outlined how countries are taking grave actions to control their border trades and the UNEP will always support its member states in this case. She highlighted the need for this matter to be taken seriously by all actors within the local and international arena as it will require consistency and dedication, highlighting environmental damage was a factor that affected everyone equally.
She also stated that the solution lay in providing individuals with economic opportunities that were sustainable and could largely assist in this battle against climate change. Concluding her statements, she complimented the work being conducted by the Financial Action task Force.
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