Malta to highlight environmental crime during EU presidency: minister

Malta will be pushing to put environmental crime on the EU agenda, Maltese Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela said Monday.

"It is the intention of the current Maltese presidency of the Council of the EU to continue working on the implementation of Council conclusions on countering environmental crime, adopted in December 2016," he said.

Environmental crime is a very profitable offshoot of organized crime and has serious implications on human health, biodiversity, climate change and the economy, he added, pointing out it is often linked to other criminal activity.

In the past, the issue has not always been prioritized as it has at times been believed to be victimless.

An Interpol survey in 2016 found that 15 of 34 European countries surveyed said environmental crime was closely linked to corruption said Roel Willekens, chair of Encirimenet, an informal European network of crime fighters from police agencies and special forces fighting environmental crime.

"People are dying and getting sick because of environmental damage caused by criminal activity, apart from disrupting the economic balance," Abela said.

Intelligence and information sharing between national agencies involved in combating environmental crimes has been deemed to be of utmost importance.

The comments were shared at an environmental crime law enforcement network meeting in Malta attended by a panel of European experts. Endit