Environmental crime is one of the most profitable and fastest growing areas of international criminal activity. The increasing cross-border scope of environmental crimes and harms is one of the reasons why governments and the enforcement community have trouble in finding the proper responses. Law enforcement cooperation between western industrialized states is often time consuming and problematic, and the problems increase exponentially when environmental criminals take advantage of situations where government and law enforcement are weak.

This book provides an overview of the developments and problems in the field of transnational environmental crimes and harms, addressing these issues from perspectives such as enforcement, deterrence, compliance and emission trading schemes. Divided into four parts, the authors consider global issues in green criminology, responses to transnational environmental crimes and harms, alternative methods to combat environmental crime, and specific types of crimes and criminological research.

Discussing these topics from the view of green criminology, sociology and governance, this book will be of great interest to all those concerned about the transnational dimensions of crime and the environment.

`Well-known criminologists Spapens (Tilburg Univ., Netherlands), White (Univ. of Tasmania, Australia), and Huisman (VU Univ., Amsterdam) have put together a book of original contributions in the rapidly expanding field of green criminology. …make no mistake: this is an important book. Many of the chapters stake out new conceptual ground with new empirical evidence of the extent, seriousness, and frequency of a variety of environmental crimes. Perhaps a sign that green criminology has come of age after roughly two decades, the book at several points engages directly with mainstream concerns about deterrence and law enforcement.’ Choice February 2017, Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries.

'This book provides novel insights for the understanding of crimes against the environment, and offers a methodological blueprint for future studies. It is essential reading for anyone interested in this area of research, students, academics, practitioners and campaigners alike.’ Rebecca W.Y. Wong, City University of Hong Kong ’Environmental crimes and harms are likely to become increasingly pressing issues in the future. Awareness of them and their long-term consequences, and how to tackle or reduce them effectively, will consequently be on the agenda of criminologists, law enforcers, and policy makers. This book is a valuable contribution to the fast growing field of green criminology.’ Tim Boekhout van Solinge, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

'This book provides novel insights for the understanding of crimes against the environment, and offers a methodological blueprint for future studies. It is essential reading for anyone interested in this area of research, students, academics, practitioners and campaigners alike.’
Rebecca W.Y. Wong, City University of Hong Kong

Toine Spapens is Full Professor of Criminology at Tilburg University, the Netherlands. He received his PhD. in criminology in 2006. Since the early 1990s, Spapens has done extensive empirical research on (organised) crime and its containment, and on international law enforcement cooperation. His studies include illegal firearms trafficking, ecstasy production, large-scale cannabis cultivation, illegal gambling and environmental crime. His theoretical work focuses on regulation of illegal markets and network theories of crime.

Rob White is Professor of Criminology at the University of Tasmania, Australia. He has written widely in the areas of criminology and youth studies, and has a particular interest in issues related to environmental harm, ecological justice and green criminology. His recent books are Transnational Environmental Crime: Toward an eco-global criminology (Routledge, 2011), Climate Change from a Criminological Perspective (Springer, 2012) and Environmental Harm: An Eco-Justice Perspective (Policy, 2013). He is the author of Crimes Against Nature (Willan, 2008).

Wim Huisman is professor of Criminology and chair of the Department Criminology at VU University Amsterdam. His main research interests and expertise lie in the field of organized and corporate crime and regulatory enforcement. Huisman is also editor of the Dutch Journal of Criminology and a member of the board of the European Working Group on Organizational Crime.