Water crimes

Project description and aims

The Council Conclusions on countering environmental crime  (8 December 2016) have recognised the role of IMPEL in countering Environmental Crimes, but a common definition of “water crimes” is a challenging task. Furthermore, water-related crimes are often recoded under other offences – like fraud, corruption, trafficking, falsification of documents, terrorism – for the absence of a systematic analytical approach. The nature and extent of these kinds of activities is still relatively unknown. Based on this background, this proposal aims at increasing knowledge on water crimes, engaging the IMPEL Community in a project aimed at collecting and sharing information about the topic, its presence, its perception and management at competent authorities.

Expected outcomes:

• A deeper understanding and awareness of the relevance of criminal offences on freshwater, and their impact on water stress and water security in Europe by IMPEL members.
• A Water Crimes Threat Assessment document.