Latest Global Private Sector Dialogue Convenes

The latest Global Private Sector Dialogue on Disruption of Financial Crimes related to Crimes that affect the Environment, organised by UNODC with the support of the Nature Crime Alliance Secretariat, convened on Wednesday, October 16, 2024. More than a hundred representatives from financial intelligence units, law enforcement, and the private sector joined the sessions to hear from subject matter-experts on tackling financial crime linked to nature crime.  

The Global Private Sector Dialogue was chaired by John Edward Conway, Global Head of Financial Crime Compliance Framework and Policies at Santander Bank, and was co-chaired by Lynn Schlingemann, Senior Associate, Financial Crime and Corruption, Nature Crime Alliance Secretariat. 

The Dialogue consisted of three roundtable discussions. The first, on Intelligence Requirements, focused on investigative methods and new technologies for detecting financial crimes related to crimes that affect the environment. Financial crime analysts from Absa, HSBC, and Standard Bank shared case studies and highlighted learnings derived from them, as well risk indicators and red flags that were present in those case studies.  

In the second roundtable discussion, on Policy Requirements, representatives from Standard Chartered delved into banking policy and corporate governance for supporting national policies to mitigate risks of financial crimes related to the environment, more specifically emerging threats on environmental and financial crime.  

During the third and last roundtable discussion, experts from WWF presented the newly developed Environmental Crimes Financial Toolkit, while representatives from FACT Coalition explained their work on illicit finance and environmental crime. 

The Dialogues are part of the Nature Crime Alliance’s ongoing work to bolster capacity across the private and public sectors to tackle financial crime related to nature crime. 

For more information, contact Lynn Schlingemann, Senior Associate, Financial Crime and Corruption, Nature Crime Alliance Secretariat: lynn.schlingemann@wri.org