This virtual event launched the Corrupting the Environment webinar series, a monthly series of discussions in 2021 on different issues of corruption, the environment and illicit trade. 

A joint initiative of the Basel Institute on Governance and the OECD, the series brought together leading voices from the public and private sectors, academia and civil society. In lively panel discussions, they explored critical trends and shared recommendations for addressing the corruption that is destroying our planet and people's opportunities for sustainable development. 

The Basel Institute's Managing Director Gretta Fenner co-facilitated the launch event alongside Piotr Stryszowski of the OECD’s Task Force on Countering Illicit Trade. Speakers included:

• Jorge Eduardo Rios, Chief of the Global Programme to Combat Wildlife and Forest Crime at UNODC
• Elizabeth Hart of WWF US, Chief of Party for the USAID Targeting Natural Resource Corruption (TNRC) project
• Mark Pieth, then President of the Basel Institute on Governance and former Chair of the OECD Working Group on Bribery
• Cristina Tebar Less, Acting Head of the OECD Centre for Responsible Business Conduct
• Christopher Wright, Senior Vice President for Compliance at Lafarge Holcim