The adoption of a new resolution by the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Untoc) marks a significant milestone in international efforts to combat transnational organised environmental crime, says South Africa’s Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE).

The resolution was adopted at the thirteenth session of the Untoc Conference of the Parties (COP13), held in Vienna, Austria, in October.

The resolution establishes a process to elaborate an additional protocol to Untoc addressing illicit trafficking in wildlife and timber, illegal mining and illicit trafficking in minerals and precious metals, and illicit trafficking in waste, the DFFE says.

“Environmental crime is organised crime, and we need to tackle the complex international networks facilitating illicit wildlife trafficking in coordination with other countries,” says Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister David Maynier.

Throughout the negotiations, South Africa consistently highlighted the challenges faced by countries in investigating and prosecuting sophisticated criminal networks that exploit differences in national legislation, weaknesses in cross-border cooperation and legitimate supply chains to facilitate crimes against the environment and conceal its proceeds.

Further, the decision builds on extensive international deliberations, including the work of an intergovernmental expert group established under COP12 to examine gaps in existing legal frameworks and opportunities to strengthen the international response.

"Our experience has demonstrated that combating transnational environmental crime requires an integrated response, both nationally and internationally.

"The overwhelming support for this resolution represents an important step towards ensuring that our international legal frameworks keep pace with the increasingly sophisticated criminal networks exploiting our natural resources," says Maynier.

Negotiations on an additional protocol are under way. This additional protocol has the potential to address these legal gaps by strengthening criminalisation and international cooperation, while respecting national sovereignty and complementing existing international agreements.

South Africa will continue working closely with its international partners to strengthen cross-border cooperation, intelligence sharing, joint investigations and efforts to disrupt the criminal networks and illicit financial flows associated with environmental crime.

These practical partnerships remain essential to delivering meaningful enforcement outcomes while the international legal framework is being strengthened, he says.

The overwhelming support for this resolution represents an important step forward in the global fight against environmental crime.

South Africa remains committed to playing an active role in shaping the additional protocol, ensuring that the realities faced by enforcement authorities and prosecutors are reflected in an international legal framework capable of delivering meaningful results, Maynier says.

Meanwhile, South Africa advanced the initiative through a coordinated, whole-of-government approach involving the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, the DFFE, the National Prosecuting Authority and the South African Police Service.

This collaboration brought together practical environmental enforcement experience, criminal justice and prosecutorial expertise, and diplomatic engagement to advance a stronger international legal response to environmental crime, the DFFE says.