Clifford Chance

The Environmental Crime Directive: A game-changer for ecosystem protection?

19 June 2024

According to a report by the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (“Eurojust”) dated January 2021, environmental crime has been expanding rapidly and endangering habitats and populations of wildlife as well as entire ecosystems, living environments and financial systems.

It is considered one of the main sources of income for organised crime alongside drugs, weapons and human trafficking. According to Eurojust, environmental crimes can generate very high profits, carry a relatively low risk of detection and are often committed by organised crime groups operating across the EU’s internal and external borders.

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