Environmental crime amplifies territorial risks – weakening governance, fueling corruption, and deterring investment. In late 2024, Brazilian federal police dismantled a sprawling illegal gold-mining network in Pará – revealing links to money laundering and transnational corruption, from the Amazon to Dubai, Miami, and Panama.
The Green Bridge Facility (GBF) tackles environmental crime by fostering networks of green enterprises that generate legal livelihoods, strengthen territorial resilience, and crowd out illicit economies. By channeling investment into bioeconomy and high-integrity green finance, these networks create positive incentives for conservation while providing an alternative to the profitability of environmental crime.
Read the op-ed by Ilona Szabó and Robert Muggah, co-founders of the Igarapé Institute
