When crime meets the climate 

While environmental crime has long been recognised as an area of organised crime and has been the subject of legal research, climate-related offences and their effects on climate policy and climate protection have received comparatively little attention. 


Image by Jeena.12 | Magnific

A new research project at Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany, called the ‘Organized Climate Crime’ is set to run from June 2026 to June 2029 and attempts to tackle this very issue. The project, led by Professor Christoph Burchard and Finn-Lauritz Schmidt, a research associate, aims to investigate whether and how organised criminal groups deliberately circumvent climate-related regulations, displace legitimate market actors, and undermine climate protection measures.

It will also examine whether organised crime in the fields of climate and environmental protection differs from more conventional forms of criminal organisation, for example, through its entanglement with legal supply chains.

“Organised climate crime is not only a challenge for the rule of law. It also causes significant harm to the climate, the environment, public health, and the economy,” said Burchard. “Our aim is to make these structures visible and to explore the role criminal law can play in addressing them. This also includes putting an economic value on the damage caused.”

Funded by the Hessian Ministry for Agriculture and the Environment, Viticulture, Forestry, Hunting and Homeland Affairs, Germany, the project combines an analysis of the factual and legal foundations of the phenomenon with comparative and interdisciplinary approaches. 

Working together with public authorities, legal scholars from other countries and researchers in the Geosciences and Earth system sciences, the team will identify enforcement deficits, model the emissions caused by illegal activities and analyse regulatory approaches adopted in other EU member states.

Going forward, the project’s findings are expected to contribute to the more effective enforcement of climate-related regulations, support law enforcement authorities and further develop the legal foundations of climate protection.