Julie Ayling, ‘Harnessing Third Parties for Transnational Environmental Protection’, TEC Working Paper 3/2013, Canberra: Transnational Environmental Crime Project, Department of International Relations, Australian National University, June 2013.

Because transnational environmental crime (TEC) can result in the demise of an environmental resource or irreversible damage to the environment, its prevention is a critical issue. Deterrence through law enforcement can go only a limited distance towards preventing TEC. However, there is a huge potential for third parties to be active participants, alongside governmental authorities, in crafting and implementing strategies for TEC prevention. This paper explores the ways in which the capacities of third parties –non-state, non-offending actors –are now, and could be, harnessed by states for this purpose. It draws together concepts and theories from policing studies, criminology, and regulatory studies to highlight changing relationships between the state and non-state actors in relation to crime control, and applies them to TEC. A more systematic approach to TEC prevention using third parties requires dedicated strategic analysis and planning on the part of states, working individually and together.

About the author

Julie Ayling is a co-Chief Investigator on the TEC Project and a Research Fellow in the Regulatory Institutions Network at the Australian National University where she is currently based in the ARC Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security (CEPS). Her research interests include policing, criminal organisations (gangs, organised crime, and terrorist groups), and state legislative and policy responses.