Reporting on environmental damage often focuses on the economic activities driving the destruction, such as illegal fishing by unregulated fleets, deforestation in protected areas, or oil drilling projects without the appropriate licenses.
For example, for a story about illegal logging on protected land, we help the journalists identify who owns the land, who cuts and sells the timber, who exports the timber, who turns it into furniture, who imports the furniture, and who sells it to the end consumer.
There are many money flows involved in any environmental wrongdoing. We have developed different methodologies to uncover them, adapted to the region, jurisdiction, and industry.
But beyond following that money, we also want to understand the legal mechanisms that make it possible for environmental crimes to happen. When I reported on organized crime, I learned that if you uncover a criminal, they may eventually get arrested, and then often another will take their place. However, if you show how the government and justice system allow criminals to thrive, unveiling a systemic issue, the stories can have a more consequential impact.
