Environmental crimes: water pollution kills... but it’s also profitable
Identifying water pollution as a crime seems only sensible and it is already characterized this way in some countries. However, to succeed in any struggle against pollution, it is important to understand what advantage such categorization provides, particularly at the international level. Speaking of environmental crimes clearly sends a message about the serious consequences such activities have for societies and for humanity. In this area, as with gross violations of human rights, criminalization may help eliminate if not impunity itself, at least the climate of impunity. But lawsuits and sanctions are effective only under precise conditions, which are sometimes difficult to meet, both in terms of the burden of proof in criminal law and in achieving the necessary political will.