Editorial: Beyond all boundaries the meteoric rise of environmental crime
| Date | 30 November 2023 |
| Pages | 1113-1116 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JFC-10-2023-311 |
| Published date | 30 November 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & finance,Financial risk/company failure,Financial crime |
| Author | Bonnie Rippingille |
Editorial: Beyond all boundaries
the meteoric rise of
environmental crime
The meteoric rise of environmental crime across all global boundaries has for decades
caused accelerating climate change, destruction of habitats and biodiversity loss demands
far more attention by those responsible for protecting our societies and institutions against
risks to their stability and, indeed, their very existence. Environmental crime is a serious
economic crime which affectsthe global economy and therefore everyone of us.
What is environmental crime?
Environmental crime is understood to collectively describe illegal activities harming the
environment and aimed at financially benefiting certain individuals, group or companies
through the exploitation and theft of, or trade in natural resources. It is the third largest
global crime sector, and the economic impact of environmental crime is rising at the
meteoric rate of 5%–7% annually, which is two to three times the rate of growth for the
global economy. Interpol and UNEP estimate that natural resources worth as much as US
$91–281bn are stolen annuallyfrom the global economy.
The economic impact estimates for the specific categories of environmental crime are
useful to an understanding of the significanceof the major global environmental crimes:
Forestry crime, the largest sector, has an impact of US$51–152bn annually.
Illegal mining has an impact of US$12–48 bn annually.
Illegal fisheries and poaching have an impact of US$11–24bn annually.
Illegal wildlife trade has an impact of US$7–23bn annually.
Illegal trafficking of toxic waste has an impact of US$10–12bn annually.
Illegal exploitation and theft of oil has an impact of US$19–23bn annually.
The World Bank estimates that the true cost of environmental crime when including
ecosystem losses is US$1–2tnannually.
Environmental crime will generally involve multiple other serious crimes which can be
used either with an environmental crime or to prosecute environmental damage in the
absence of a law. These crimes include tax evasion, money laundering and anti-money
laundering, destruction of foreign property by fire, anti-bribery laws, wire and mail fraud,
document fraud, carbon credits transfer fraud, counterfeiting, drugs and firearms
trafficking, human trafficking and forced labor, hacking, maritime piracy and threat
financing. A whopping 38% of all income from environmental crime goes to finance armed
Erratum: It has come to the attention of the publisher that the article, Bonnie Rippingille “Editorial:
Beyond all boundaries the meteoric rise of environmental crime”, published in Journal of Financial
Crime, Vol. 30 No. 5, pp. 1113-1116, was published with incorrect affiliation information. The correct
affiliation is US Director, Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime and Chair,
Environmental Crime Programme. The error was introduced in the editorial process and has now
been corrected in the online version. The publisher sincerely apologises for this error and for any
inconvenience caused.
Editorial
1113
Journalof Financial Crime
Vol.30 No. 5, 2023
pp. 1113-1116
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1359-0790
DOI 10.1108/JFC-10-2023-311
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