The Rise of Environmental Crime: A Growing Threat to Natural Resources, Peace, Development and Security

Hailed as the most successful international environmental agreement ever, the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer plays an important role in reducing the illegal trade in ozone depleting substances (ODS) such as CFCs and HCFCs through the provision of many initiatives, including (1) customs training on a national and regional basis provided by the Protocol’s Multilateral Fund for the past 23 years and primarily delivered by UNEP’s OzonAction Compli- ance Assistance Programme, (2) the informal Prior Informed Consent (iPIC) mechanism launched by UNEP OzonAction in 2006, and (3) focused enforcement operations organised jointly between the Regional Intelligence Liaison Office of the World Customs Organization and UNEP OzonAction (Sky Hole Patching I and II). 209

Thanks to the Project Sky Hole Patching I and II, about 800 tons of ozone depleting substances was reported to have been seized as of 2010. With regard to the iPIC, out of 211 consultations between government focal points in 2014 and 2015, more than 551 tonnes of illegal or unwanted ODS trade was prevented. Thanks to the increased vigilance of customs authorities and the transition to alternative technologies cata- lysed by the Protocol, the scale of illicit CFC trade was reduced and criminal markets have almost been eliminated. However, the emergence of illegal trade in HCFCs illustrates that the situation is dynamic and requires continued vigilance. HCFCs are still widely used and will be phased out only in 2030. As this deadline approaches, the availability of HCFCs will

EXAMPLES OF ODS SMUGGLING PATTERNS IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

Scale at the Equator 0

1 000 km

Sea of Okhotsk

RUSSIAN FEDERATION

MONGOLIA

KAZAKHSTAN

NORTH KOREA

Qinhuangdao

Dalian

SOUTH

JAPAN

KIRG.

Tianjin

KOREA

Qingdao

TAJIK.

Pusan

CHINA

Shanghai

AFGH.

Ningbo

PAKISTAN

NEPAL

BHUTAN

TAIWAN

Guangzhou

Pacific Ocean

Kaohsiung

BANGLADESH

Hong Kong

VIETNAM

LAOS

INDIA

MYANMAR

PHILIPPINES

Indian Ocean

THAILAND

CAMBODIA

PHILIPPINES

SRI LANKA

MALAYSIA

SINGAPORE

Major ODS producers in the region (and in the World) Major destination country for illegal ODS Major transit country of ODS illegal trade

I N D O N E S I A

Identified smuggling routes Major merchandise ports

Source: UNEP ROAP, Illegal trade in ODS in Asia and the Pacific , September 2006.

Figure 14: The illegal trade in ozone-depleting substances in the Asia-Pacific .

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