Programme Cooperation Agreement 2012 – 2013

laborative effort in East Africa with UNODC, INTERPOL and UN REDD. A joint proposal for USD 5.7 million has been developed and submitted to the Norwegian Govern- ment. In 2012-2013, three UNEP Rapid Response Assessments (RRAs) on environmental crime were launched, all co- funded by UNEP and donor countries. All received ex- tensive global media coverage and are repeatedly quoted worldwide, including in the UN General Assembly. The UNEP RRA Green Carbon, Black Trade revealed that il- legal logging has a global value of USD 30-100 billion and is responsible for 50-90% of the deforestation in key tropi- cal countries. In addition, illegal logging represents 8-14% of global CO 2 emissions. Major countries, including Bra- zil, referenced the report in media when announcing deci- sions to enhance the effort against organized crime and illegal logging. Two more RRAs were produced during the first quarter of 2013. The UNEP report Stolen Apes: The Illicit Trade in Chimpanzees, Gorillas, Bonobos and Orangutans , ana- lyzes the scale and scope of the illegal trade in apes and highlights the growing links to sophisticated transbound- ary crime networks, which law enforcement networks are struggling to contain. Another report, prepared by GRID- Arendal for UNEP, CITES, IUCN and TRAFFIC, Elephants in the Dust: The African Elephant Poaching Crisis , provides an overview of the current state of the African elephant and recommendations for action to ensure its protection. Both reports were launched in early March 2013, at side events at the 16th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) of CITES held in Bangkok, Thailand, and were intended to influence decisions at the COP. An agreement was reached on concrete actions to be taken by a group of eight countries identified as the worst offenders in the illegal ivory trade (the supply states, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda; the consumer states, China and Thailand; and the transit countries Malaysia, Viet Nam and the Philip- pines). According to this agreement, the countries are committed to quickly develop national ivory action plans and to take urgent measures to implement and report on these plans. Whilst the Elephants in the Dust report can- not claim attribution for this new policy, it is likely to have been an important resource for raising awareness as it was launched prior to the COP discussions on this issue. As recommended by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, GRID- Arendal is striving to focus its traditionally diverse work increasingly on some broader and longer lasting pro- grammes. As noted above, GRID-Arendal is working with Regional Seas Conventions to build regional capacity in Africa for implementing ecosystem-based management and state of marine environment reporting. The rapidly increasing work on “Blue Carbon” includes a 4-year com- Longer lasting Engagements of GRID-Arendal

vention and aims to provide reliable and high-quality data and information for regular SoE reporting on the Caspian Sea. Other transboundary (water) work featured in this report, is the continental shelf work in West-Africa and in the Himalayas (funded outside the framework agreement). GRID-Arendal’s Environmental Crime Programme started in 2012. Transnational organized environmental crime robs mainly developing countries of an estimated USD 90-210 billion every year, or 1-2 times global Official De- velopment Assistance (ODA). It involves five key areas: i) Illegal logging and deforestation; ii) Illegal fisheries; iii) Illegal mining and trade in minerals including conflict dia- monds; iv) Illegal dumping and trade in hazardous and toxic waste; and v) Illegal trade and poaching of wildlife and plants. It threatens state security by increasing cor- ruption, spreading into other crimes such as arms and drug smuggling and human trafficking. It therefore has devastating effects on developing economies. In 2013, GRID-Arendal used MFA funds to support the development of its environmental crime programme. Ad- ditional co-funding of over NOK 60 million was secured for the period 2013-2015 from multiple partners. GRID-Arendal, together with the UN Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC), was granted NOK 15 million by NORAD for the three-year project ‘Organised Forest Crime (ORG- FORC) – Combatting Transnational Organized Forest Crime and Corruption’. The purpose of the project is to reduce corruption and organized crime associated with illegal logging, thereby paving the way for REDD funds and investments to achieve significant sustainable devel- opment impacts on poverty reduction and better govern- ance. The Convention on International Trade in Endan- gered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is also a collaborating partner. In addition, GRID-Arendal together with INTERPOL, has developed a ‘Law Enforcement As- sistance to Forests (LEAF)’ project to support government agencies and INTERPOL in training frontline police offic- ers, investigators and National Central Bureaus, as well as supplying information on illegal logging to improve inter- national enforcement operations. GRID-Arendal assists with information gathering and research to help inform INTERPOL and collaborating countries. ORGFORC and LEAF are evolving quickly, and have al- ready provided a range of results both on the ground and in improved international collaboration to combat illegal logging, including through meetings and courses world- wide. GRID-Arendal has been central to the overall de- velopment and initiation of both projects. Building on its close cooperation and involvement in these two projects, GRID-Arendal was also closely involved in initiating a col- Environmental Crime Programme

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