The fourth event of the Corrupting the Environment webinar series co-hosted by the Basel Institute and the OECD focused on how behavioural approaches can and must complement interventions tackling illegal wildlife trade (IWT) and other environment crimes.
The following summary reflects key messages emerging from the Harnessing the intangible: enhancing integrity during crises Knowledge Partner session on 25 March 2021 at the 2021 OECD Global Anti-Corruption & Integrity Forum.
Three critical imperatives to tackle the hundreds of billions in illegal funds flowing annually from environmental crimes arose from the latest OECD-Basel Institute virtual dialogue on 17 March.
Claudia Baez Camargo, the Basel Institute's Head of Public Governance, will showcase the results of her and her team's research under the UK's East Africa Research Fund (EARF) at an end-of-programme event on 16-17 March 2021.
The research project, entitled “Corruption attitudes, social norms and behaviours in East Africa”, looked at how behavioural factors influence attitudes towards petty corruption in Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.
Research highlights
In (very!) brief, the research illuminates:
Companies dealing with metals and minerals cannot avoid corruption risks, which plague practically every extractive sector at every phase of development, every country and every stage of the supply chain. Both industrial and artisanal mining are vulnerable, though in different ways.
Smart use of technology, concerted cooperation both across and within sectors, and information sharing on risks and risky actors are key to combating the rampant trade in illegal goods, including wildlife, minerals and forest products.
These were strong takeaways of a virtual discussion on illicit trade and natural resources on hosted by the OECD and Green Corruption team of the Basel Institute on Governance on 27 January 2021.
Collective Action is at the heart of the new Strategy 2021–23 of the United Nations Global Compact, an ambitious corporate sustainability initiative that supports companies around the world in achieving sustainable and responsible business operations throughout their supply chains.
Business, conservation, anti-corruption, global trade, compliance and risk management. International law, organised crime enforcement, standard-setting, political economy analysis and social norms. The inaugural Corrupting the Environment dialogue used all these lenses to examine the “vicious triangle” that undermines sustainable development: corruption, illicit trade and environmental degradation.
Senior Asset Recovery Specialist Oscar Solorzano has emphasised some of the key opportunities and challenges of non-conviction based confiscation laws at a preparatory meeting for the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) against Corruption in 2021.