As the World Climate Conference, COP30, is underway in Belem, Brazil, the disastrous consequences of environmental crimes are visible across the Amazon. This highlights an oft-overlooked fact in the fight to combat a warming world: Tackling organized crime is also key to safeguarding the climate. In the Amazon, criminal groups like the Comando Vermelho (CV), or Red Command in English, control the illegal trade in gold, rainforest wood and drugs.
“The CV is the most important organization involved in illegal mining and also illegal deforestation and drug trafficking,” explained Rodrigo Ghiringhelli, professor at the Pontifical Catholic University (PUC) of Rio Grande do Sul and member of the Brazilian Forum for Public Security (FBSP).
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