A rare victory for multilateralism in the fight against environmental crime (commentary)

Governments voted 83 to 12 at the UN’s main forum on organized crime to negotiate the first global protocol against environmental crimes including timber, minerals, wildlife and waste tracking.Brazil, working with partners across Latin America and Africa, won the vote despite opposition from an unlikely coalition of the United States, Argentina, Saudi Arabia and Iran.The protocol would close the legal gaps that let criminals launder illicit gold, timber and wildlife into legitimate markets, argue Laura Waisbich, Melina Risso, and Robert Muggah. However, it will bind only the states that ratify it, and a draft is unlikely before.This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay. Multilateralism has had a miserable few years. International institutions are under strain, geopolitical rivalries are intensifying and governments struggle to agree on even the most elementary rules. Governments struggle to agree on even elementary rules. Yet last week in Vienna, there was an unexpected breakthrough. Countries agreed to begin negotiating a global treaty to tackle environmental crime. It is a modest but important victory for international cooperation, and one that could help turn the tables on some of the world’s most destructive criminal enterprises. The breakthrough came at the 13th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC). By 83 votes to 12, governments backed a resolution establishing a committee to design a new protocol targeting illegal trade in wildlife and timber, illicit mining and trafficking in minerals, and waste trafficking. The outcome was hardly assured. The United States, Argentina, Saudi Arabia and Iran sought to dilute the initiative. They failed. The vote showed that international rules can still advance despite determined opposition. Illegal logging in Indonesian Borneo. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler Brazil deserves considerable credit. Working with a coalition spanning Latin America and Africa, its diplomats turned years of technical discussions into political momentum. Civil society organizations, including the Igarapé Institute, helped build the evidence and sustain pressure for stronger international action. The breakthrough also signals a wider shift in global diplomacy. Countries across the Global South are increasingly becoming norm-makers rather than simply norm-takers. On issues ranging from climate and biodiversity to environmental crime, they are setting the agenda, forging coalitions and helping write international rules. Brazil’s leadership in Vienna offers a powerful example. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s re-election on October 25 should inject fresh political energy into this effort. His renewed mandate gives Brazil an opportunity to sustain its diplomatic leadership, strengthen its alliances and accelerate negotiations on the protocol. The stakes are enormous. Environmental crime is profitable, generating hundreds of billions of dollars annually, while its wider economic and ecological costs may run into the trillions. Criminal networks are stripping forests of timber and rivers of gold. Others traffic endangered species or dump hazardous waste across borders. Corruption and money laundering help keep these businesses thriving. Río Huaypetue gold mine in Peru. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. The Amazon offers a grim illustration. Illegal gold mining and logging are destroying ecosystems and the mercury used to extract gold is poisoning rivers and indigenous communities. The profits strengthen criminal organizations operating across borders. Gold extracted illegally in remote forests can pass through several intermediaries before reaching refiners and consumers thousands of miles away, and by then it is often indistinguishable from legal metal. Governments are not standing idle. Brazil has mounted major operations against illegal mining in Indigenous territories, including investigations into the financial networks behind it. Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru have also taken action against illicit extraction, some of it linked to criminal groups. International cooperation is also expanding too. In 2025, INTERPOL and the World Customs Organization coordinated Operation Thunder across 134 countries, seizing nearly 30,000 live animals and identifying 1,100 suspects. But these efforts remain uneven. International agreements already protect endangered species and regulate hazardous waste. The European Union has strengthened its environmental crime legislation., and the Council of Europe adopted a convention on protecting the environment through criminal law in 2025. Yet there is still no universal criminal justice instrument establishing common offences and enforcement measures for major forms of environmental trafficking. Criminals exploit the gaps. Different legal standards and weak oversight allow illicit commodities to enter legitimate markets. Shell companies obscure ownership. Financial intermediaries help disguise the proceeds. Enforcement often stops at national borders, even when the criminal enterprise does not. The proposed protocol could help change this. Common criminal offenses would make it harder for offenders to exploit inconsistent national laws. Closer cooperation between police and prosecutors could make cross-border investigations more effective. Better arrangements for recovering assets and extraditing suspects would help authorities pursue the financiers and brokers who rarely get their hands dirty. Pangolin scale in Central African Republic. Pangolins are widely trafficked across international borders. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler Businesses also have much at stake. Banks and commodity traders face growing pressure to demonstrate that their supply chains are clean and stronger international standards would help them detect illicit sourcing and improve due diligence. Indigenous Peoples and local communities, who often bear the brunt of these crimes, could gain from stronger mechanisms to expose abuses and demand accountability. The new instrument would build on existing agreements, including CITES and the Basel Convention, and could reinforce the Paris Agreement and the Global Biodiversity Framework. Illegal deforestation releases greenhouse gases and destroys carbon sinks. Illegal mining contaminates waterways and damages forests. Stronger enforcement could help governments meet climate and biodiversity commitments that criminal activity routinely undermines. There are reasons for caution. No protocol has yet been adopted and negotiations will be long. Like all UNTOC protocols, it will bind only the states that ratify it, and some of the countries that opposed it, including major consumer markets, may never sign. Sovereignty concerns will persist. Some countries may resist stronger obligations, while others will struggle to implement them. Even the best treaty is worth little without functioning institutions and adequate resources. The breakthrough also reflects a wider shift in global diplomacy. Across the Global South, countries are increasingly acting as norm-makers rather than norm-takers. On climate, biodiversity and now environmental crime, they are setting the agenda, forging coalitions and helping write international rules. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s narrow re-election on October 25th gives Brazil the chance to sustain that leadership, deepen its alliances and push the negotiations forward. Brazil’s credibility abroad will depend, though, on continued enforcement at home, including against the financial networks behind illegal mining. Still, Vienna matters. Brazil and its partners have shown that countries can make progress on shared problems despite deep geopolitical divisions. The next challenge is to turn a diplomatic achievement into enforceable law. Laura Waisbich is a senior researcher for the Igarapé Institute, Melina Risso is the Institute’s program director, and Robert Muggah is the institute’s co-founder. Credits Topics