International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict

  Strengthen environmental legislation, compliance and awareness and call upon enforcement agenciesand countries to reduce the role of illicit trade andtaxing of forest and wildlife products for threat financet o non-state armed groups and terrorism . Strengthen specifically the research on the possible role of trade in wildlife and timber products including charcoal for threat finance and identify gaps in environmental legislation that may facilitate this. 

  The consequences of the illegal trade in wildlife span environmental, societal (including security), and economic impacts – including affecting the resource base for local communities, and resulting in the theft of natural capital at national levels. The illegal trade in wildlife is therefore a barrier to sustainable development, involving a complex combination of weak environmental governance, unregulated trade, loopholes and laundering systems used to conduct serious transnational crime, and undermining government institutions and legitimate business. The illegal trade in wildlife involves a wide range of flora and fauna, across all continents. The pace, level of sophistication, and globalized nature of the illegal trade in wildlife is beyond the capacity of many countries and individual organizations to address.  The illegal trade in wildlife constitutes not only a very significant criminal sector, involving organized crime, violent conflicts and terrorism, but it also ...

  Implement a comprehensive coordinated UN system and national approach to environmental crime by helping coordinate efforts on environmental legislation and regulations , poverty alleviation and development support with responses from the enforcement sector to curb environmental crime, as part of a holistic approach to challenge the seriousthreat to both the environment and sustainable developmentcaused by the continued environmental crime .

  Support UNEP as the global environmental authority to address the serious and rising environmental impacts of environmental crime and to engage the relevant coordination mechanisms of the UN system to support countriesand national, regional and international law enforcement agencies with relevant environmental information to facilitate theirefforts to combat the illegal trade in wildlife species and theirproducts , as well as illegal logging and illegal trade in timber.  

  Encourage the entire international and bilateral donor community to recognize and address environmental crime as a serious threat to sustainable development and revenues , and to support national, regional and global efforts for the effective implementation of, compliance with and enforcement of targeted measures to curb illegal trade in wildlife species and their products as well as illegal logging in timber

 Support immediate, decisive and collective action to narrow the gap between commitments and compliance, such as the ones expressed in multilateral environmental agreements , through national implementation and enforcement, including the relevant decisions and resolutions taken by their governing bodies intended to combatthe illicit trade in wildlife and forest products .

  Identify end-user markets and systematically design, support and implement where appropriate consumer awareness campaigns focusing on high consumer end-markets . Call upon both Governments and the UN system to effectively work with and engage civil society and the private sector in efforts to identify alternatives to consumer demands for traded wildlife species and forest products.

 Strengthen awareness through certification schemes , such as e.g. the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), to facilitate consumer recognition of legal and illegal products . This especially applies to such wood products as paper that currently include the largest share of import-exports of tropical wood, as well as to CITES-listed species and their products. To this end, both voluntary, market and legislative approaches could enhance collaboration between governments, civil society and the private sector

  Strengthen institutional, legal and regulatory systems to further combat corruption to effectively address wildlife-related offences and to ensure that legal trade is monitored and managed effectively .

  Strengthen international and development support to the entire enforcement chain, including frontline, investigator, customs, prosecutors and the judiciary, with particular reference to environmental crime to support legalrevenues and sustainable development , and to reduce theimpacts on the environment from environmental crime . 

  Strengthen support to INTERPOL, UNODC, WCO and CITES, such as through ICCWC as well as individual programmes , to enable them to support memberstates and other relevant stakeholders to further identify, develop and implement the most appropriate responses to environmental crime , reflecting and acknowledging the serious threats and effects it has on environmental governance , wildlife, ecosystems and the services it provides.

  Invest in capacity building and technological support to national environment, wildlife and law enforcement agencies to enable them to further protect key populations of iconic endangered species threatened by poaching , such as but not limited to, rhinos, tigers and the African elephant as a necessary response to safeguard these species from poaching, alongside renewed efforts to strengthening habitat protection and management.

  Acknowledge the multiple dimensions of environmental crime and its serious impact on the environment and sustainable development goals , and help support and balance the appropriate coordination and sharing of information from stakeholders, such as civil society, private sector, indigenous peoples, governments and a wider UN system with the need and recognition of also the role of law enforcement in good environmental governance.