Countries party to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime have agreed to begin negotiations on an instrument to combat environmental crimes and acknowledge the role of Indigenous peoples, whose participation remains to be defined.
Environmental crimes
Criminals trafficking timber, wildlife, minerals and waste face a new step toward a coordinated international response. The states party to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime approved this Friday in Vienna to open negotiations to draft a protocol against environmental crimes, with 83 votes in favor, 12 against and 27 abstentions.
The idea, pushed by eight Latin American countries together with three African nations, creates a committee tasked with drafting the future instrument. The decision starts the negotiations, but it does not yet approve the protocol nor set its final content. Its aim is to strengthen prevention, investigation and prosecution of activities such as wildlife trafficking, illegal mining and waste trafficking.
The resolution also recognizes the contribution of Indigenous peoples and local communities. However, it does not yet specify how they will participate in the process. Indigenous representatives and environmental NGOs insist that this recognition translate into effective input in the design of the agreement.
Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC)
States party to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) approved this Friday in Vienna to open negotiations on a protocol against environmental crimes, an initiative spearheaded by eight Latin American countries that recognizes the role of Indigenous peoples in the fight against these crimes.
The resolution received broad backing, with 83 votes in favor, 12 against and 27 abstentions. UNTOC is the only binding global treaty against transnational organized crime.
Estados Unidos, Venezuela, Argentina, Irán y Arabia Saudí figuraron entre los países que votaron en contra, mientras que la mayoría de los países europeos y latinoamericanos respaldaron el texto.
Brasil, uno de los promotores de la resolución, calificó de «histórica» la decisión y agradeció a la sociedad civil sus llamamientos para reforzar la lucha contra los delitos que afectan al medioambiente.
Con esta decisión se crea un comité especial encargado de elaborar un protocolo adicional a la Convención para combatir el tráfico ilícito de fauna y flora silvestres, incluida la madera, la minería ilegal, el tráfico de minerales y metales preciosos y el de residuos.
La iniciativa fue presentada por Bolivia, Brasil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panamá, Perú y Uruguay, junto con Mauritania, la República Democrática del Congo y Santo Tomé y Príncipe.
La decisión abre el proceso negociador, pero no aprueba el contenido del futuro instrumento jurídico.
Indigenous peoples have a lot to say
The text recognizes the importance of Indigenous peoples and local communities in supporting the efforts of States against environmental crimes and the associated corruption, in accordance with national laws.
That recognition places the populations inhabiting many of the affected territories among the actors contributing to combat these activities.
The resolution warns that environmental crimes harm not only ecosystems but also public health, food security and economic development.
The recognition of Indigenous peoples appears in the preamble of the approved resolution, which does not yet establish a mechanism for their participation in the negotiations, a matter to be defined during the process.
“This historic decision allows the international community to finally agree on coordinated responses to transnational environmental crime,” Raphael Hoetmer, director of the Western Amazonia program at the NGO Amazon Watch, told EFE.
“However, it will only be effective if discussed, designed and implemented with the effective participation of Indigenous peoples, who safeguard ecosystems such as the Amazon,” he warned.
Brayan Mojanasinsoy, spokesperson for the Inga Indigenous people of Putumayo, in southern Colombia, highlighted in statements to EFE that Indigenous peoples are the ones who suffer on the ground from the consequences of these crimes.
«We are in the territories, where we daily confront illicit economies and organized crime: with our guards, monitoring systems and ancestral knowledge», he said.
«Without us, Indigenous peoples, there is no security in the Amazon», stated Mojanasinsoy, who is part of a delegation of Amazonian leaders that was this week participating in the UNTOC.
«Therefore, we must be consulted in the drafting of the protocol», he urged.
The United States seeks to curb the initiative
According to a source familiar with the negotiations, the United States submitted three amendment proposals aimed at blocking the vote or delaying the process, such as limiting its funding and postponing decisions for two years, but none of them advanced.
The proponents of the resolution argued that, despite the existence of several international agreements related to environmental protection, there is a lack of a universal instrument against transnational environmental crimes.
The future protocol should strengthen the prevention, the investigation, the prosecution and the adjudication of those crimes within the UNTOC’s mandate, as stated in the approved document.
The resolution also sets two limits: the new instrument must respect states’ sovereignty over their natural resources and avoid interference or duplication with existing multilateral environmental agreements.
UNTOC currently has three specific protocols, dedicated to human trafficking, the illicit trafficking of migrants and firearms.
With what was approved today in Vienna, a path is opened to add another protocol focused on criminal networks that exploit and traffic natural resources.
Beyond the Protocol
To dismantle these networks, stopping an illegal shipment should be the start of the investigation, not its end. Tracking the money and the documentation used to market the resources can help identify those who fund the operations and reap the profits.
The value of the future protocol will also depend on its ability to foster cooperation between countries: linking what happens in the extraction territory with intermediaries and destination markets would enable action across the entire criminal chain.
