The UAE is intensifying its campaign on financial criminal networks supporting the illegal wildlife trade and impending biodiversity crisis as COP28 draws near.
A government official told Arabian Business that the UAE is stepping up its enforcement of financial crimes related to animal trafficking and environmental harm in advance of the COP28 UN climate conference in Dubai this November.
He declared, “The UAE will concentrate more on financial crimes related to climate change, especially Illegal Wildlife Trade.”
If we continue on our current path, more than a million species will become extinct in the next ten years.
IWT is a significant transnational organized crime that brings in billions of dollars annually. Traffickers move, conceal, and launder money through taking use of flaws in the financial and non-financial sectors, which encourages additional wildlife crimes and undermines financial integrity.
Corruption, poverty, and insecurity are fueled by these crimes. As the globe continues to struggle with the environmental and economic effects of climate change, it also poses a threat to biodiversity and can have a big influence on public health and the global economy. These are all important issues that are more important now than ever before.
Al Zaabi stated that over-exploitation, especially animal hunting and trafficking, is one of the biggest threats to nature.
About half of the 1.7 million unknown viruses that are thought to exist in wild animals could infect humans through ingestion, marketplaces, and illegal trading.
The World Bank estimates that the yearly cost of wildlife trafficking is almost $200 billion if we take into account all species of wild animals and plants. The World Bank estimates the value at a startling $1 to 2 trillion a year if we factor in the costs of the consequences on ecosystems, specifically their capacity to sequester carbon.
The World Bank currently estimates that countries lose up to $12 billion yearly due to missed income; this issue will be “a subject of serious discussion” at COP28, which will take place from November 30 to December 12 in Dubai, he said.
The UAE’s focus is predicated on this issue, according to Hazem Mulhim, CEO and Founder of Eastnets.
According to him, environmental crime is worth between $110 and $281 billion annually to the criminal underworld.
Fortunately, the UAE is aware of the link between financial crime and environmental crime, and it has partnered with the UN, Interpol, and other international organizations to combat this horrible criminal trend.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, animals with high-value parts like ivory and skins, such as elephants, rhinos, big cats, and primates, are particularly vulnerable. However, because of the high demand for their meat and shells, which are used in jewelry and medicine, reptiles like turtles, tortoises, and snakes also experience significant pressure.
Traffickers primarily obtain these animals from areas in Africa and Southeast Asia where weak enforcement has led to over-exploitation of natural resources. Countries in these regions like Kenya, South Africa, Vietnam, and Malaysia have emerged as hubs for the illegal trade due to their proximity to operations and poorly regulated marketing, several reports suggest.
Meanwhile, environmental crime as a whole generates hundreds of billions of dollars annually through activities like illegal fishing, logging, and waste. Areas with lax governance and abundance of natural wealth such as the Amazon in South America and South Asian jungles have higher rates of these extractive crimes.
