INTERPOL and UN Environment (UN Environment, or UNEP) released the publication, 'Strategic Report: Environment, Peace and Security – A Convergence of Threats,' which finds that some non-state armed groups, terrorist groups and criminal networks fund their activities by exploiting natural resources in conflict areas.
The report recommendations actions the international community can take to fight environmental crime.
9 December 2016: INTERPOL and UN Environment (UN Environment, or UNEP) released a publication exploring the connections between global environmental crime and organized crime and terrorism. ‘Strategic Report: Environment, Peace and Security – A Convergence of Threats’ finds that some non-state armed groups, terrorist groups and criminal networks fund their activities by exploiting natural resources in conflict areas. These activities, the report asserts, pose a serious threat to peace and security.
The report offers strategies and activities, developed by INTERPOL and UN Environment to counter environmental crime, suggesting that it is key to address crimes that affect environmental quality, biodiversity and natural resources. The publication also recommends that the international community and their member countries support a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to tackling
environmental crime and its convergence with other criminal activities. It calls for greater information exchange across sectors, and efforts to reduce threats to security and peace. The report also recommends that INTERPOL and UN Environment encourage an increased global focus on the implementation of environmental policy along with stronger financial support, including through official development assistance (ODA).
INTERPOL Secretary General Jürgen Stock emphasized that environmental crime deprives governments of much-needed revenues, people of their livelihoods, and communities of peace and security.
During the report launch, INTERPOL Secretary General Jürgen Stock emphasized that environmental crime deprives governments of much-needed revenues, people of their livelihoods, and communities of peace and security. The report’s publication follows a resolution adopted at the 71st session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in November 2016, which calls for enhanced cooperation between the UN and INTERPOL to fight transnational crime and terrorism. [Publication: Strategic Report: Environment, Peace and Security – A Convergence of Threats] [UNEP Press Release]