Launch of the “Coalition for Multilateral Action against Crimes that Affect the Environment”

The “Coalition for Multilateral Action against Crimes that Affect the Environment” was launched on November 4th, in Rio de Janeiro, in an event attended by the Brazilian Ministers of Environment and Climate Change, Marina Silva, and of Indigenous Peoples, Sônia Guajajara.  

The Coalition, proposed by Brazil, aims to promote multilateral action against crimes that affect the environment and to establish a binding legal framework under the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) to address this challenge. The Coalition, which remains open to new adhesions, is composed of the following members: Brazil, South Africa, Bolivia, Colombia, Gabon, Guinea Bissau, Panama, Peru, Democratic Republic of Congo, São Tomé and Príncipe, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe and Suriname. The group also receives support from civil society organizations, among them “End Wildlife Crime” and the “International Council of Environmental Law”.  

In addition to causing serious negative impacts on biodiversity and sustainable development, crimes that affect the environment are the third most profitable type of crime for criminal organizations around the world, generating estimated revenues of more than 280 billion dollars per year and growingly connected to other forms of organized crime, including drug trafficking. The fight against such crimes, however, is severely hampered by the lack of solid legal bases for international cooperation among justice system authorities. In this context, the Coalition will promote the establishment of a binding legal framework under the UNTOC that enables the international community to fulfill its shared responsibility to combat environmental crimes.

LINK: “Coalition for multilateral action against crimes that affect the environment”