With the rise of environmental concerns among citizens, European states have in recent years adopted an expanding body of legislation to combat environmental crime. This is because green crime is now recognized as one of the most lucrative forms of criminal activity, with severe impacts on the environment, human health, and local, national, and international economies and security. It is also perceived as linked to a wide range of other crimes (e.g. drug trafficking, money laundering).
Yet, despite a dense body of literature on green criminology, relatively little research has focused on the enforcement of existing laws by police officers. This is particularly surprising given the specificities of green policing. One of these is the involvement of an uncommon category of actors who rarely participate in the coercive aspects of policing: NGOs. While environmental NGOs (ENGOs) continue to engage in their traditional activities of campaigning and political lobbying to strengthen the fight against environmental crime, they also increasingly contribute to the effective enforcement of environmental law alongside conventional police forces, including on the ground (e.g. collecting evidence, testifying in court). Such strong involvement of non-state actors reflects both the complexity of investigating these crimes and the lack of specialized expertise among police officers, as acts of serious environmental damage have only recently been criminalized. It can also be explained by limited resources and/or the low prioritization of crimes whose victims are not always human or visible, and are often deemed secondary.
Against this background, this project seeks to explore the role of NGOs in green policing and the new process of socialization for police officers by analyzing how, and to what extent, police and NGOs work together to fight environmental crime in Europe. To achieve this, GREENEUROPE investigates: 1) Who are the ENGOs supporting green policing in Europe, and what are their roles? and 2) How do ENGOs and police officers cooperate in the fight against environmental crime? Based on these findings, GREENEUROPE aims at producing new analytical and theoretical insights into how and to what extent the policing role of non-state actors changes our understanding of the functions and capacities of European states.
To this end, the project relies on a comparison between four countries to build a stronger theorization of policing and public policy in Europe (Belgium, Denmark, France, and Spain). The European Union, as an additional venue for cooperation between ENGOs and police officers, is also examined — whether through various instruments (including project funding), the transformation of the legislative framework (including the adoption of the 2024 revised EU Directive on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law), or broader opportunities for meetings and exchanges between ENGOs and police representatives.
This project aims to produce innovative insights into effective green policing and into the relationships between police officers and ENGOs, disseminating them through publications and communications addressed to various academic audiences. Beyond its scientific contribution, GREENEUROPE places a strong emphasis on maximizing its societal impact through a range of dissemination channels designed to foster dialogue among diverse actors: law enforcement agencies, civil society through ENGOs, and policymakers interested in environmental crime. The project highlights existing practical difficulties faced by “green cops” while promoting innovative solutions to tackle environmental crime, notably through the involvement of ENGOs under specific conditions. In doing so, the fellowship contributes to a more effective enforcement of existing environmental legislation. GREENEUROPE also seeks to raise awareness of the specific challenges associated with combating environmental crime through lectures and outreach activities aimed at broad and diverse audiences (e.g. podcasts).
