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STORY: UNEP / ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME
TRT: 2.25
SOURCE: UNEP
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / FRENCH / NATS
DATELINE: 6 NOVEMBER 2013, NAIROBI, KENYA/ FILE
FILE – RECENT, NAIROBI, KENYA
1. Various shots, exterior UN Headquarters
6 NOVEMBER 2013, NAIROBI, KENYA
2. Wide shot, plenary
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director:
“The problem of poaching is not a failure only of those systems of national jurisdiction of enforcement of protection of the country where an elephant or rhino is poached. It is also the collective failure of an international system of cooperation, rule of law, enforcement, that allows people, literally to get away with threatening entire species with extinction.”
4. Med shot, delegates
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director:
“We must look at the supply chain. We must look at the global markets. We must look at the country of origin, the countries of transit, and the countries where consumer demand creates this enormous financial force that is able, not only to kill an elephant, it creates the source for corruption, for crime. It is sometimes also collusion between illegal trade in wildlife, human trafficking, and many other parts of the international criminal scene.”
6. Med shot, delegates
7. SOUNDBITE (French) Jean-Michel Louboutin, INTERPOL Executive Director of Police Services:
“The first thing to do is for each country to establish its own laws in order to convict the criminals involved in this type of traffic. The second thing to do is to put in place specialized units trained to fight, collect information, investigate, build criminal cases and dismantle the criminal networks involved in the traffic. Finally, it is also very important not to keep the information available to yourself. It is essential to share this information because environmental crime is a global phenomenon. Exchanging information is the key to building a comprehensive and unified response to fight this type of phenomenon.”
FILE – AMBURU NATIONAL RESERVE, RIFT VALLEY PROVINCE, KENYA
8. Various shots, elephants in the wild
9. Various shots, remains of poached elephants
FILE – RECENT, SOUTH AFRICA
10. Various shots, poached rhinos
UN official today (6 November) in Nairobi said that environmental crime is a serious and growing international problem, whose impacts transcend national borders.
Combating environmental crime, from the illegal trade in wildlife and timber and the smuggling of ozone depleting substances to the illicit trade in hazardous waste and illegal fishing, requires an international approach, according to the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Achim Steiner.
SOUNDBITE (English) Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director:
“The problem of poaching is not a failure only of those systems of national jurisdiction of enforcement of protection of the country where an elephant or rhino is poached. It is also the collective failure of an international system of cooperation, rule of law, enforcement, that allows people, literally to get away with threatening entire species with extinction.”
Environmental crime affects all sectors of society and is often linked with the exploitation of disadvantaged communities, human rights abuses, violence, conflict, money laundering, corruption and international criminal syndicates.
SOUNDBITE (English) Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director:
“We must look at the supply chain. We must look at the global markets. We must look at the country of origin, the countries of transit, and the countries where consumer demand creates this enormous financial force that is able, not only to kill an elephant, it creates the source for corruption, for crime. It is sometimes also collusion between illegal trade in wildlife, human trafficking, and many other parts of the international criminal scene.”
Wildlife crime alone is estimated to be worth USD $15 - 20 billion annually and is recognized as the fourth largest global illegal trade behind illegal drugs, human trafficking and trade armaments.
INTERPOL’s Executive Director of Police Services, Jean-Michel Louboutin, called for a unified response to fight this phenomenon.
SOUNDBITE (French) Jean-Michel Louboutin, INTERPOL Executive Director of Police Services:
“The first thing to do is for each country to establish its own laws in order to convict the criminals involved in this type of traffic. The second thing to do is to put in place specialized units trained to fight, collect information, investigate, build criminal cases and dismantle the criminal networks involved in the traffic. Finally, it is also very important not to keep the information available to yourself. It is essential to share this information because environmental crime is a global phenomenon. Exchanging information is the key to building a comprehensive and unified response to fight this type of phenomenon.”
The first Executive Level Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Committee (ECEC) Meeting will be held in Nairobi from 7 to 8 November and will look into developing and implementing innovative strategies to combat environmental crime, working with governments, international organizations and local communities.
