At the 8th session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), in December 2019, States parties adopted a resolution recognising the relationship between corruption and environmental crimes. 

Resolution 8/12 – Preventing and combating corruption as it relates to crimes that have an impact on the environment – is a landmark Resolution. With its 23 operative paragraphs (OPs), it underlies the importance of addressing corruption linked to crimes that have an impact on the environment. It urges States parties to prevent, investigate and prosecute corruption offences where they may be linked to crimes that have an impact on the environment. 

This Working Paper report presents a concise overview of prevention and enforcement actions, initiatives and measures implemented by UNCAC States parties between 2019 and 2023 to combat corruption as it pertains to crimes that have an impact on the environment. Section 2 focuses on prevention and Section 3 on enforcement actions.

Section 4 underscores the valuable contributions made by non-state actors, in particular civil society, academia and the media in this collective endeavour.

The conclusion includes a list of promising initiatives for corruption prevention and enforcement.

About this Working Paper

This report is part of the Green Corruption programme at the Basel Institute on Governance and was prepared in the context of the 10th Conference of the States Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption in Atlanta, Georgia, US from 11–15 December 2023. It was made possible by the generous support of the Principality of Liechtenstein.

It is also part of the Basel Institute on Governance Working Paper Series, ISSN: 2624-9650. You may share or republish the report under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence.

Suggested citation: Lemaître, Sophie. 2023. ‘Seedlings of hope: Addressing corruption linked to crimes that impact the environment in line with UNCAC Resolution 8/12.’ Working Paper 50, Basel Institute on Governance. Available at: baselgovernance.org/publications/wp-50.