One of the current hot topics of discussion deals with the environment. As reported by media, several Southeast Asian countries are trying to handle problems related to forest fire and smoke. The annually recurring problem that occurs every dry season has inflicted at least 4 casualties and more than 15 thousand people suffering from Acute Respiratory Tract Infections (ISPA).
Forest fire, especially related to smoke has made the society’s quality of life decrease drastically. A complex across boundaries of nations’ problem like this requires responses from multiple countries involved and affected ands are usually done in multilateral forums such as the United Nation meetings.
The current hot issue that affects multiple countries has turned the environment as the theme for this year’s Gathering and Introducing International Relations (GINTRE). GINTRE is an annual event of the International Relations Study Program (HI) of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Parahyangan Catholic University to welcome and perform its initiation program for the HI freshmen to campus life. It is Conducted by IIIrd semester students, and mentored by the International Relations Study Program Student association and lecturers. GINTRE was designed to simulate international scale meetings like those held at the UN.
Taking the model of United Nations Environmental Program, an institution other than UN that specifically discusses environmental problems happening in the international world as reference.
In this year’s GINTRE, Brazil is elected as host of the UNEA meeting that will propose the issue of TOEC or Environmental Crime. Environmental Crime here means planned illegal acts that are directly damaging the environment conducted by a group of people on purpose. There several examples relating to environmental Crime, such as illegal animal trade, illegal logging, illegal fishing, toxic waste illegal trade etcetera. Environmental Crime as one of the causes of Earth’s damage that will be proposed in this UNEA meeting are illegal animal trade and illegal logging.
Illegal animal trade is one of the focuses of environmental crime. Basically, animal trade is not prohibited by the state because there are export-import activities related to living animals, or wearable from animal leather. This animal trade becomes illegal when they go against a stature/law, for example: trading state protected animals or trading them without proper permit or method.
On the other hand, illegal logging is one of the most prolific environmental crimes which has significant impact on the world. We need to remember with the increase of human population in the world and the more developed, forest are on earth are getting smaller. Forest exploitation for dwellings and industrial material will gradually make earth barren, as well as trigger worsening quality of air.
The issue of animal trade and illegal logging has global implications, respectively. In illegal animal trading, the impact is the decrease of the variety of fauna in the world and the ecosystem imbalance. On the other hand, animal trade will increase the probability of animal infected disease to spread, like avian influenza and Ebola. Meanwhile, illegal logging will cause the destruction of flora and fauna’s habitat in the world, which in turn will cause the decrease the plats variety (and animal variety indirectly). From the government point of view, illegal logging will cause the loss of income that should have gone to the government. Droght, flooding, and global warming have to be cautioned about.
By: Diandra Dewi, student of year 2015 HI UNPAR
Source KOMPAS-Griya Ilmu (Tuesday November 17, 2015), “The Issue of Global Environmental Crime”
