RUSI Supports G20 to Advance Multilateral Action on Environmental Crimes

11 December 20253 Minute Read

The G20 Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group

Commissioned by South Africa's G20 Presidency, RUSI delivered high-level analysis on the need to position environmental crime at the heart of the global agenda, leading to the G20 Cape Town Ministerial Declaration on Crimes that Affect the Environment – hailed as a historic first.

Crimes that affect the environment are among the world’s most damaging and lucrative illicit activities. Yet the threat they pose has long been under-prioritised amid a fragmented multilateral response. In 2025, RUSI worked with South Africa's G20 presidency in a concerted effort to raise the profile of crimes that affect the environment as a cross-cutting global threat demanding an integrated response.

To support this initiative, Cathy Haenlein, RUSI’s Director of Organised Crime and Policing Studies, was commissioned by the South Africa G20 Presidency to deliver the Technical Paper 'Galvanising Multilateral Action on Crimes that Affect the Environment' and present the findings and recommendations to G20 member states.

Co-authored with Frances Craigie, Chief Director, Enforcement, South African National Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, the paper argued that:

As illicit environmental markets have expanded globally, the impacts have grown more severe. Across the planet, crimes that affect the environment now act as a threat multiplier, creating heightened risk profiles.
Today, crimes that affect the environment present a multi-dimensional threat bridging the most pressing global environmental, development and public health agendas.
These crimes have not seen the same global focus as other related challenges, with an urgent need to raise the profile of the issue internationally and drive ambitious, coordinated action.

Drawing on leading research, expert dialogue and practical lessons from past interventions, the paper put forward nine recommendations to advance the multilateral response to a threat causing irreversible damage across the globe.

Read the G20 Technical Paper (Technical Paper 5)

In September 2025, Cathy Haenlein presented the findings and recommendations at the G20 Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG) Science Policy Dialogue in Cape Town. The Technical Paper was subjected to reviews by G20 member states, invited guest countries and international partners, with the final paper published in November 2025.

Reflecting the contents of the Technical Paper, the Cape Town Ministerial Declaration on Crimes that Affect the Environment saw G20 countries recognise the serious threat posed by trafficking in wildlife, timber, minerals and hazardous waste, among other forms of transnational environmental crime. The Declaration called on all countries to put in place measures to prevent the entry of natural resources sourced illegally in other jurisdictions.

For the first time, the G20 also recognised explicitly that action on these crimes is a strategic objective, accelerating progress on a wider set of environmental, sustainability and development objectives.

Member countries welcomed the South African G20 Presidency's initiative to convene a series of technical workshops building on the 2017 G20 High-Level Principles on Combating Corruption Related to Illegal Trade in Wildlife and Wildlife Products, reporting back on the outcomes in 24 months.

Cathy Haenlein, RUSI's Director of Organised Crime and Policing Studies said:

We congratulate South Africa's G20 Presidency on this important step in advancing coordinated multilateral efforts to disrupt crimes that affect the environment as a pervasive transnational threat. RUSI stands ready to support further action to take forward these important objectives.