Transnational Environmental Crime Project
The Transnational Environmental Crime project in the Department of International Relations is funded by the Australian Research Council under a Linkage Project grant. The project Partner Organisation is the Regulatory Compliance Policy and Practice Section of the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population, and Communities. Earlier research on this project was funded by the International Centre for Excellence in Asia Pacific Studies and by The Australian National University through its ARC Linkage Grant Pilot scheme.
Our research investigates emerging trends in transnational environmental crime (TEC) and examine the conditions for successful regulatory and enforcement responses. Transnational environmental crime generates environmental costs, involves organised criminal groups, cross-over crimes such as corruption and money laundering.
The project is led by three Chief Investigators:
- Professor Lorraine Elliott, Department of International Relations, The Australian National University
- Professor Greg Rose, Faculty of Law, University of Wollongong
- Julie Ayling, Fellow, Regulatory Institutions Network, The Australian National University
We focus on three main themes:
- advancing our understanding of the ways in which environmental commodities that are either sourced illegally or destined for illegal markets are traded and the ways in which profits are then laundered into the legal economy.
- applying conceptual tools to advance our understanding of the organization of TEC and the asset structures that sustain illicit chains of custody and profit laundering.
- mapping and analysing existing transnational and intergovernmental practices in the areas of policy-making, compliance and enforcement.
The project's Chief Investigators maintain links with academics and institutions engaged in research on various aspects of transnational environmental crime. The TEC Project also has observer status with ARPEC, the Asia Regional Partners Forum on Combating Environmental Crime.
The project team also includes a Research Assistant and a PhD student funded by an Australian Postgraduate Award (Industry) scholarship and an ANU HDR Merit Scholarship. Five Partner Organisation Visiting Fellows will join the project team, based at the ANU, for a period of three months each to bring specific policy and operational expertise to the research project.
For more on our aims and objectives, our activities and our networks, please use the links on the TEC menu on this page.
