BAKU – Ghada Wali, the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, said that the world has gathered in Baku for the COP29 climate summit, with tens of thousands of registered government representatives and other participants seeking to agree bold solutions to advance climate action.
In an article published by the Azerbaijan State News Agency (AZERTAC), she said “However, there is one group of actors polluting the planet and profiting from deforestation and biodiversity loss who will not be accountable for implementing commitments and agreements to save our planet.”
She added “Transnational organized crime groups in every region of the globe are engaging in unlawful activities that have devastating consequences for the environment. Unless we integrate strong criminal justice responses into climate efforts, the criminal exploitation of nature will continue to undermine those very efforts.”
“Crimes that affect the environment are a low-risk, high-profit illicit industry, and they are exacerbating biodiversity loss and climate change by destroying natural carbon sinks and altering ecosystems,” she said.
Illegal logging and timber trafficking are contributing to deforestation, generating billions in illicit profits while suffocating the lungs of our planet, she added.
Wildlife crimes are targeting rare and endangered species of flora and fauna and smuggling them across borders, disturbing the balance of nature, she further noted.
Poachers using cyanide and dynamite to capture fish can kill coral reefs, which provide habitats for an estimated 32 percent of all marine species, she said.
The 2024 World Wildlife Crime Report from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) found that some 4,000 plant and animal species were being illegally traded in some 162 countries. More than 80 per cent of these species are listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), she added.
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