Agency Report –
Berlin – The German Environment Ministry plans to combat environmental crime in collaboration with Interpol and the conservation organization World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
“Environmental crime has developed into one of the world’s most serious criminal sectors,” Environment Minister Steffi Lemke said in Berlin on Thursday.
The organizations are aiming to target international networks involved in activities such as destroying rainforests or poaching endangered animals.
The focus will be on crimes related to fisheries, deforestation, mining, pollution and the wildlife trade.
The German Environment Ministry is funding the project, which began in November, for three years with €5 million ($5.1 million).
Interpol Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza highlighted the need for law enforcement agencies from different countries to coordinate, noting that criminal organizations often find it easy to cross borders and remain undetected.
The funds will also be used to recruit investigators to support Interpol in various countries.
Additionally, the initiative aims to better protect environmental activists, particularly those working to safeguard rainforests in regions like Latin America.
“Environmental crime kills; it kills people,” Lemke stressed.
The expertise of the WWF will also play a role in the initiative. The organization has extensive experience in and strategies for protecting civil society in the detection of crimes, Lemke said.
According to the Global Witness non-governmental organization, more than 2,100 environmentalists have been killed worldwide since systematic recording began in 2012.
