Drugs and the Environment
TOWARDS A GREEN DRUG POLICY
While urgent action is being called for to combat climate change, the illicit drug economy is emerging as a significant factor. Deforestation, monocultures, pollution of waters and soil, as well as the high carbon footprint of indoor cultivation, are some of the most prominent effects of illicit drug economies. It's time for drug policies to address this. The GPDPD promotes the approach of Alternative Development with a special focus on environmental considerations and sustainability.
The environmental impacts of illicit drug economies vary depending on the substance being produced. Take, for example, the cocaine supply chain. In countries like Bolivia, Peru, and Colombia, coca leaf cultivation often occurs in fragile ecosystems and pristine forests, even in natural parks, causing deforestation and biodiversity loss. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in 2022 in Colombia the forest reservation zones and national natural parks concentrated 20% of the national coca cultivation – more than 46,000 hectares. In the same year, deforestation in the country reached 123,517 hectares. There are other causes of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest in Colombia - but coca cultivation is cited by experts as one of the main drivers of the expansion of agricultural boundaries.. In addition, as noted in the UN World Drug Report 2023, there is growing evidence of the indirect nexus between illicit drug markets and deforestation through the so-called “Narco-Deforestation”, where drug revenues are reinvested in activities such as cattle ranching, land acquisition (legal and illegal), and agriculture, leading to further forest loss.
It doesn't stop at deforestation - soils and water are also polluted. Coca leaves first processed into coca paste and then into cocaine hydrochloride in small local laboratories. The precursor chemicals used on a large scale in this process are released unfiltered in the environment. The revenue generated by the illicit trade exacerbates environmental destruction: profits are laundered through investments in extensive cattle ranching and land grabbing, even in Latin American countries where coca leaves are not grown.
While the connection between environmental problems and the illicit drug economy is increasingly recognised and addressed in international drug policy debates, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has been promoting sustainable income alternatives in drug crop-growing regions for decades. Environmental considerations are essential for the development-oriented drug policies supported by the GPDPD.
The GPDPD funds studies on the subject, identifies and implements green development measures in its country-level activities, and raises the profile of the link between environmental and drug policies in the international debate.
HOW THE GPDPD PROMOTES GREEN DRUG POLICIES
- In recent years, at the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), the GPDPD has hosted several side events on the nexus between drugs and the environment, aiming to raise awareness at the CND level and to promote drug policies that properly incorporate environmental considerations.
- In its projects in Colombia, the GPDPD identifies and implements measures that demonstrate how Alternative Development and environmental protection go hand in hand to sustainably counter the cultivation of illicit crops. These projects focus on forest reserves and natural parks, using instruments such as payments for ecosystem services and promoting agroforestry to use resources as naturally as possible. These measures are implemented jointly with UNODC, Fundación Ideas para la Paz (FIP), and the Universidad de los Andes.
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The GPDPD cooperates with the UNODC to promote evidence-based and best environmental practices implementation in Alternative Development. In this framework, the GPDPD supported the UN World Drug Report 2022 booklet on "Drugs and the Environment" to enhance the evidence on the environmental impact of illicit drug economies, as well as the Practical Guide – Alternative Development and the Environment. Jorrit Kamminga, in his article, expands on this chapter from the UN World Drug Report, delving into the intricate link between drug economies and environmental degradation, and further stressing the need for greener drug policies in the face…
More on the topic:
Take a look and download these graphics: Environmental impact of cocaine production.
Brombacher, D., Garzón, J.C., Vélez M.A. (Ed.): “Illicit Economies and Development”, Special Issue, Journal of Illicit Economies and Development (JIED), LSE Press, 2021
Santos, H., Schmidt, A., Wahl, S. Addressing Coca-Related Deforestation in Colombia: A Call for Aligning Drug and Environmental Policies for Sustainable Development. Journal of Illicit Economies and Development (JIED), LSE Press, 2021
