Whistleblower Protection: An Essential Tool for Addressing Corruption that Threatens the World’s Forests, Fisheries and Wildlife

Weak law enforcement, which is both a facilitating factor and a result of corruption, is one important reason. The United Nations Environment Program identified a lack of law enforcement capacity as a key gap in tackling environmental crimes in 2018. In 2019, the United Nations' first report on the global environmental rule of law found that "despite a 38-fold increase in environmental laws put in place since 1972, failure to fully implement and enforce these laws is one of the greatest challenges to mitigating climate change, reducing pollution and preventing widespread species and habitat loss." Whistleblowers have proven to be a powerful tool for detecting and prosecuting environmental crimes and corruption. Modern whistleblower protections, such as those incorporated into the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, have enabled whistleblowers to partner with law enforcement officials to make a meaningful dent in corruption in various industry sectors. However, many countries lack adequate whistleblower protections, and local and national governments often fail to protect whistleblowers from reprisals. A recent Global Witness study found that 212 land and environmental defenders were killed in 2019, the highest annual total since statistics were first collected.