"As the World Climate Conference, COP30, is underway in Belem, Brazil, the disastrous consequences of environmental crimes are visible across the Amazon. This highlights an oft-overlooked fact in the fight to combat a warming world: Tackling organized crime is also key to safeguarding the climate. In the Amazon, criminal groups like the Comando Vermelho (CV), or Red Command in English, control the illegal trade in gold, rainforest wood and drugs."
"The CV is the most important organization involved in illegal mining and also illegal deforestation and drug trafficking," explained Rodrigo Ghiringhelli, professor at the Pontifical Catholic University (PUC) of Rio Grande do Sul and member of the Brazilian Forum for Public Security (FBSP). Gold mining is turning the Amazon rainforest into a gray, poisoned landscape. First, the trees are cut down, then mercury is added to the rocks and soil to extract the precious metal"
Environmental crimes in the Amazon are causing severe destruction and poisoning of landscapes while undermining climate protections. Criminal groups, notably the Comando Vermelho (CV), control illegal trades in gold, rainforest wood and drugs, driving deforestation and violence. Illegal gold mining uses mercury after trees are felled, contaminating soil and water. Drug trafficking, illegal gold mining, and human trafficking are major threats to people and ecosystems. Factors enabling cartel activity include high gold prices, limited government presence, porous borders with neighboring countries, and competition for territorial control that spurs murders and irreparable damage.
Read at www.dw.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]