Environmental crime has become one of the fastest-growing illicit economies in the Western Balkans, fuelled by corruption, weak law enforcement and a lack of public awareness, according to a new report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC).

The study says environmental crime is now “among the most lucrative transnational criminal activities in the world”, generating an estimated $110bn-281bn annually” and expanding at a rate of 5-7% per year. All major types of environmental offences — from illegal logging and wildlife trafficking to hazardous-waste dumping and industrial pollution — are found across the region.

Air pollution, river contamination and unregulated construction are taking a heavy toll on ecosystems and public health. The report notes that in Serbia alone, “6,592 people die prematurely each year due to ambient air pollution.”

GI-TOC identifies hotspots across the six Western Balkan states. Illegal logging is widespread in Kosovo, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro, while Albania and Bosnia face severe river pollution. Montenegro has emerged as a key transit point for wildlife trafficking. Serbia’s mining hub of Bor is singled out for “dangerously high concentrations of toxic metals in the air and water”.

Albania’s Ishem–Erzen river basin is contaminated with cadmium and lead at levels “exceeding EU standards by more than 100 times,” the report says.

Low indictments, high impunity

Despite the scale of damage, prosecutions remain rare. “Some types of environmental crime leave few or no traces, are easily concealed, or are deliberately covered up … This makes it difficult to bring cases to court,” the report warns.

Prosecutors often deprioritise such offences. In Serbia, the authorities recorded only 13 environmental crime indictments in 2021, a strikingly low figure for a country with some of Europe’s worst air pollution. Across the region, indictments remain limited: Albania registered 80 cases that year, Bosnia 256, Kosovo 471, Montenegro 166 and North Macedonia 113.

Interviewees “consistently emphasised that the number of indictments does not reflect the actual scale of environmental harm,” GI-TOC writes. In Bosnia, the data shows very few convictions.

One case in Zenica detailed in the report illustrates the obstacles. A citizens’ association, Eko Forum, filed a criminal complaint against a local steelworks for pollution, but more than five years later, prosecutors suspended the investigation. The prosecutor’s office argued that the companies had made efforts to address the issue and that “there was no deliberate wrongdoing”. 

The report concludes that political interference is a key barrier to justice. Experts interviewed said “political corruption prevents court proceedings from taking place and satisfactory verdicts from being reached.”

Criminal markets

GI-TOC documents a series of major criminal schemes. In Bosnia, authorities uncovered the illegal import and dumping of “hundreds of tonnes of waste from Italy”.  Kosovo is losing more than 700 hectares of forest annually to illegal logging and wildfires, while Montenegro faces “financial losses amounting to €20bn through forest-concession mismanagement”. 

In North Macedonia, Lake Ohrid is threatened by fish poaching and regulatory capture, while Skadar Lake in Montenegro is a hotspot for illegal construction and wildlife poaching.

The report stresses that its focus on criminal markets reveals dynamics often absent from traditional climate assessments, describing the study as “a complementary but more targeted perspective on the region’s environmental vulnerabilities”. 

Grass-roots groups, environmental journalists and local activists are at the forefront of exposing abuses. GI-TOC highlights “the crucial role of civil society, journalists and environmental activists, including women who have led long-standing resistance movements in defence of rivers and forests.”

But citizens frequently hesitate to report violations. “Citizens often fear reporting environmental crimes, especially when the offenders are powerful entities,” the report says.

Public awareness of reporting procedures remains low, prompting calls for nationwide campaigns.

All six Western Balkan states are candidates or potential candidates for EU membership, but the report says they have made “limited progress in… aligning their policies and legislation with the European Union acquis” in areas such as water management, chemicals and environmental crime.

GI-TOC warns that the region’s patchwork approach to environmental protection is insufficient. It calls for stronger institutions, better enforcement, coordinated action across agencies and a clear distinction between administrative and criminal offences.

“Tackling environmental crime requires strong international cooperation and a multi-stakeholder approach,” the authors write — including governments, civil society, academia, the private sector and local communities.

Without significant reforms, the watchdog concludes, environmental crime will continue to flourish in the Western Balkans, threatening biodiversity, public health and the region’s European integration prospects.