Browsing by Browse by FOR 2020 "440208 Environmental crime"

Whilst farming practices (as opposed to hunting and gathering) have existed for eons, by the twentieth century these had evolved in many parts of the world into large-scale commercial enterprises. Contemporary practices incorporate crop and animal specialisation, uniform monocultures, mechanisation of labour, consolidation of farms and market concentration, the application of chemical inputs, and the use of genetically modified crops. Evolving cultural values and political sensibilities mean that modern agriculture is fraught with conflict, with animal welfare and climate change being most prominent. Agriculture broadly and farmers individually can be pre-eminent in environmental harm and crime. Farmers are also victims of the effects of climate change and in some instances are at the forefront of conservation efforts.

Illegal hunting/shooting (and poaching) involves the illegal killing or taking of wildlife. It is a phenomenon which, amongst an array of impacts, has driven some species towards extinction, and can take many forms depending on its location and target. This entry provides a definition of illegal hunting/shooting, placing it within the wider gambit of environmental crimes, and overviews the phenomenon and those involved. The notion of hunters possessing a social licence and their overall motivations are considered, along with consideration of preventive and enforcement measures. Such criminal behaviour is oftentimes difficult to detect and enforce owing to the remoteness of where the offending frequently occurs, and thus there is a lack of both formal and informal guardianship. The entry concludes with a discussion of measures used to promote legal hunting.

Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is the term given to particular kinds of fishing activity that in some way contravene national or international laws (DAFF, 2019). This activity has numerous environmental impacts, such as depleting fish stocks (especially of vulnerable species) and causing damage to ecosystems. It also impacts both socially and economically, such as through disrupting the livelihood of lawful fishers, removing a source of protein for those who rely on fish for consumption, and diminishing amenity and activity for tourism and recreation. Left unchecked, IUU fishing can create irreversible harms. IUU is largely concealed, with illegal catches easily intermingled with lawful catches, making prevention, detection and thus penalisation difficult. Nevertheless, various laws, treaties and monitoring programmes combined with technological and other surveillance tactics seek to offer some level of traceability and deterrence.

Due to its increasing scarcity, fresh water has become a highly valued global market commodity with entrepreneurs advising speculators on how to advance their portfolios through innovative freshwater investments whilst upholding sustainable development objectives (Williams, 2023). Moreover, there is no shortage of global economic advice on the best 'water stocks' to maximise profits in the face of climate change and diminishing potable freshwater 'resources' (Whitakker, 2024). Its acquisition through investment or theft, is therefore, often a profitable enterprise. Water theft, defined by Interpol (2016: 33) as 'the unauthorized use and consumption of water before it reaches the intended end-user' constitutes between 30-50 percent of the global water distribution and commercialisation (Loch et al. 2020). However, the associated environmental and social impacts of water speculation and water theft remain under researched and largely unknown (Eman, 2023).

Fresh water is essential to life. Due to its increasing scarcity relative to use it is often identified as the ‘new oil’ or ‘blue gold’. Its theft is, therefore, a profitable enterprise. Water theft is the unauthorized use and consumption of water before it reaches the intended end-user. It constitutes between 30-50 percent of the global water distribution and commercialisation.

Australia is not immune from such illegal activity. Australia is the world’s driest inhabited continent and with few exceptions water security is seriously threatened throughout. While some threats are undoubtedly climate-induced, the theft of water is playing an increasingly significant role in undermining and compromising Australia’s water security. Yet relatively little is known of the historical and contemporary context of water theft in Australia, and the parameters of the phenomenon remain under-researched.

This is the first of a series of briefing papers on the Water Theft Project focussing on the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB), Australia. This paper outlines the overall research endeavour. It introduces the project aims, the project methodology and methods, and its intended outcomes. Future papers in this series will provide detailed and substantive discussions of key concepts (‘water theft’), policies (‘laws and regulations’ and the ‘water market’) and government and community responses to water theft issues (breaches of regulation, perceptions of water taking as ‘folk crime’, serious criminal offences).