Respond to the following:

Three of the problems with investigating environmental crime include: Cost, Enforcement, and Prosecution. The costs are so high to go after many of these types of crimes, and due to international trade (as well as international waters), it is very difficult to prosecute for many different types of environmental crimes. Many countries and organizations have created standards to follow many environmental laws, but not all, which is also a problem, which takes us back to cost. Last year, the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands announced that they would begin going after violators of these types of crimes, including land grabbing. If allowed to go unchecked, the damage to our planet would catastrophic, as greed could eventually lead to the consumption of all of the natural resources and the destruction of the planet.

Also, due to the worldwide number of people engaging in environmental crime it often also aids terrorism, as criminal and militant groups have turned to plundering natural resources due to it's high value. This type of environmental crime has actually overtaken illegal small arms trade as the most profitable for criminals, according to many recent reports, including the UNEP¹

1. https://www.theguardian.com/global/2016/sep/15/hague-court-widens-remit-to-include-environmental-destruction-cases