This panel provides an overview of key red flag indicators of environmental crime, risk regions and sectors, and typologies used by criminals to move or launder illicit revenue from environmental crime and enabling or converging crimes, including trade-based money laundering, corruption and trafficking within commodity supply chains.
Red flag indicators specific to environmental crime-linked financial crimes have been developed through consultations with intended beneficiaries, desk-based research, and survey responses from financial services compliance professionals. Indicators are grouped into categories for financial institutions (FIs) to integrate them into their anti-financial crime due diligence, screening and monitoring.
This panel helps FIs identify the key signs of suspicious activity related to:
Deforestation and land conversion
Illegal mining
Illegal wildlife trade
While some indicators overlap with other crime types, they are particularly relevant in this context.
This panel helps FIs identify the key signs of suspicious activity related to:
System integration
These red flag indicators highlight how environmental crime proceeds are concealed within legitimate trade. Firms should assess how to incorporate these terms into their systems based on the nature of their own business, and by combining these terms with other red flag indicators to minimise false alerts.
Organisational relevance
Not all red flags apply to all organisations and each organisation should select those that apply to them.
Risk assessment
A single indicator does not necessarily indicate illegal activity but does warrant further monitoring and examination, as appropriate (and should be taken in context with country risk assessments).
Scope limitations
These typologies and red flags are not exhaustive but provide guidance on what FIs should monitor during screening processes.
The Environmental Crimes Financial Toolkit is developed by WWF and Themis, with support from the Climate Solutions Partnership (CSP). The CSP is a philanthropic collaboration between HSBC, WRI and WWF, with a global network of local partners, aiming at scaling up innovative nature-based solutions, and supporting the transition of the energy sector to renewables in Asia, by combining our resources, knowledge, and insight.
