What role could tax investigations play in detecting, investigating and prosecuting cases of illegal wildlife trade? Potentially a large one, with the right coordination and capacity.

Broadly, “internal controls” refers to systems of policies, procedures and practices to prevent, detect and respond to issues, errors and irregularities. 

Systems of internal control can be very effective in addressing corrupt conduct, which is the focus of this quick guide. But internal controls can also address other problems that affect an organisation’s efficiency and effectiveness, such as poor employee performance or the failure to accomplish important organisational goals. 

The article analyses drivers and determinants of illicit wildlife trade (IWT), targeting those factors that support the participation of individuals in poaching and transportation of wildlife goods.

Environmental criminals and their corrupt facilitators get rich by destroying our planet and its natural resources. This publication for the Targeting Natural Resource Corruption (TNRC) project explains how and why to confiscate their illicit assets – with or without a criminal conviction.

The paper investigates the role of criminal networks in fostering illegal wildlife trade (IWT), and how these relational structures interact with transnational organized crime. The paper frames these topics within the debate around the opportunistic or organized nature of IWT. The aim is to understand how chaotic behaviors can transform into an ordered and organized strategy.

This article is the Basel Institute’s contribution to the Global Forum on Law, Justice and Development Review of Legal Experiences and Global Practices Relating to COVID-19, published in December 2021. The Global Forum is an initiative of The World Bank. The contribution was submitted in July 2020; the version below contains minor updates to hyperlinks.

This in-depth interview with Professor Mark Pieth and Juhani Grossmann, Team Leader - Green Corruption programme at the Basel Institute on Governance, was conducted by Marianne Djupesland and Nina Norset Little of Økokrim, the National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime in Norway.

It covers:

This collection of insights on corruption, the environment and illicit trade emerges from the monthly Corrupting the Environment webinar series between December 2020 and August 2021.