ABSTRACT

There are numerous actors and institutions, internationally and regionally, that are relevant for the efforts of the European Union to combat environmental crime both on its territory and beyond. This report examines the roles of some prominent actors and institutions, including amongst others, INTERPOL, the the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Customs Organisation, the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, EUROPOL, Eurojust and the Directorate General Environment of the EU Commission.

Some of these organisations have their own units to address environmental crime whilst some do not, by virtue of their mandates. Together, most of these organisations are linked to one another in the form of some formal and informal agreements. To date, one of the most significant cooperation is that between INTERPOL, UNODC, WCO, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and World Bank called the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime.

This report will demonstrate how environmental crime is inherently linked to other forms of especially serious and organised crime. Several organisations described in this report have made that connection between environmental crime and these other forms of crime and do not treat environmental issues in isolation. The analysis contained in this report covers, to the extent possible, the actual behaviour of cooperation amongst these organisations. For this, relevant literature and documents as well as interviews with experts and practitioners have been used.