Green Crimes and Joint Crime Ventures: Laundering Natural Resources

Introduction

The high value and scarcity of natural resources increasingly attract criminal entrepreneurs operating in the legal economy. The laundering of natural resources is a prime example where illegally obtained natural resources are converted into legal products.

Consumer Impact

Consequently, consumers buy products, such as a gold wedding ring, a hardwood floor, or endangered species, as ‘legitimate’ on the international market and unknowingly become part of a trade with devastating environmental effects.

Criminal Interactions

To facilitate laundering, crime groups interact with corporations and state actors as joint crime ventures. The proposed research aims to understand how and why joint crime ventures launder natural resources and what the environmental impact is.

Contemporary Developments

Contemporary developments in environmental crime networks signal the expansion of grey areas of business where the separation between conventional and non-conventional criminals is no longer appropriate for understanding and dealing with the increasing complexities of environmental crime.

Research Approach

Therefore, it is essential to develop an innovative approach to fill this theoretical and empirical gap. By analysing coercive, economic, and political interactions between crime groups, corporations, and state actors, this study will build a new line of research and reveal the causes, incentives, and environmental harms of laundering natural resources.

Environmental Impact

The environmental impact of laundering is illustrated by rapidly disappearing rainforests, large-scale pollution, and the mass extinction of species. Yet, laundering natural resources has been the subject of rather limited study.

Methodology

This research introduces a novel combination of:

1. Cluster analysis of environmental crime cases
2. Multi-sited field research
3. Crime script analysis

This ensures a unique mixed-method perspective.

Significance

The insights will be crucial for scientists, policymakers, corporations, NGOs, and law enforcement to develop inventive solutions to prevent and tackle the laundering of natural resources.