Baku State University

What is Environmental crime? - Environmental crime is an illegal act that causes direct harm to the environment. Environmental crime is a serious and growing international problem, with criminals violating national and international laws put in place to protect the environment. These criminals are polluting the air, water and land. They are pushing commercially valuable wildlife species closer to extinction and they are significantly impacting the biological integrity of the planet. International bodies such as the G8, Interpol, United Nations Environment Programme and the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute have recognised environmental crimes such as illegal wildlife trade in endangered species in con­travention to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES), smuggling of ozone-depleting substances (ODS) in contravention to the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, dumping and illicit trade in hazardous waste in contravention of the 1989 Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and Other Wastes and their Disposal, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in contravention to controls imposed by various regional fisheries management organisations, illegal logging and the associated trade in stolen timber in violation of national laws. [1, p.2]