Environmental destruction, often linked to corruption, is taking place in many developing countries. Many of these countries have neither the knowledge nor the means to prosecute such crimes. Liechtenstein therefore supports the Green Corruption Programme to combat the illegal trade in natural resources. The programme of the Basel Institute on Governance aims to stop money flows from environmental crimes and promote environmental protection.

The Green Corruption Programme, which was launched three years ago, has already achieved considerable success and supported cases amounting to 25 million Swiss francs. In Uganda, for example, a criminal syndicate dealing in poached animals was brought to justice for the first time. In Malawi, proceedings in connection with commodities crime were initiated in cooperation with the national corruption authorities. In Peru, assets from forestry and gold trading offences worth over three million Swiss francs were confiscated.

In addition, training courses on financial investigations and asset recovery have been organised in Ecuador, Uganda and Peru. The programme was also instrumental in setting up a practical forum to combat environmental crime, which now has 620 members.