Germany links up with Interpol to stamp out environmental crimes ‘worth billions’

By Louise Guillot | 01/17/2025 06:13 AM EST

Environmental crime is the third most profitable criminal activity globally after drug trafficking and forgery.

The German government has joined forces with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) and green nonprofit WWF to crack down on cross-border environmental crime.

The “International Climate Initiative” project, launched Thursday, will target a wide range of crimes from illegal fishing, forestry and mining, to wildlife trafficking. The German government will invest €5 million in the project over three years.

“This type of crime is very difficult to detect … prosecute and punish,” Germany’s Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke said during a press conference on Thursday.

Advertisement

Criminals “kill and trade in critically endangered species, clear forests that provide key carbon reservoirs and habitats, and poison landscapes with illegally dumped waste, making them uninhabitable,” all while “making billions worth of illegal profits every year,” she said.

GET FULL ACCESS