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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.

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