Experts warn of Africa's surging environmental crimes

NAIROBI - A spike in environmental crimes in Africa is threatening peace, stability and sustainable development, experts said Monday on the sidelines of the 20th session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.

Ababu Namwamba, Kenya's permanent representative to the United Nations (UN) Office at Nairobi and the UN Environment Program, said that eradicating all forms of environmental crimes is urgent to place Africa on a path of renewal, resilient growth and stability.

"We want to see action against environmental crimes in Africa to be at the center of our conversation around sustainability, climate action and biodiversity protection," Namwamba said.

Giovanni Broussard, acting head and Africa coordinator for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime Global Program on Crimes that Affect the Environment, said that Africa has borne the brunt of illegal actions against nature, amid threats to tourism, heritage pride and ecosystems' resilience.

In the last two decades, the continent has grappled with poaching of iconic species such as elephants, rhinos and pangolins, with illegal logging being rampant as well, Broussard observed.

"We also see a lot of smuggling of waste that generally comes from the Western world and then dumped illegally on landfills in parts of Africa," Broussard noted, adding that unregulated fishing and extraction of critical minerals threaten environmental sustainability on the continent.

Fred Boltz, head of the Programming Division at the Global Environment Facility, said that partnerships, innovative financing and community engagement are key to revitalizing action on environmental crimes in Africa, enhancing the resilience of nature and societies.