Environmental safeguards are easily avoided with corruption and while it is very hazardous on an environmental scale, it has a terrible impact on societies, too, because resources and habitats disappear due to corruption and therefore, ecosystems are ruined.
Let us have a look at the impact of corruption on forestry and the water sector.
Forestry
To transport tinder over borders they use false papers: For example a special wood is declared as an ordinary sort or the origin is changed. Another possibility to move illegal wood is to get buy papers from corrupt officials. All along the production chain, they rely heavily on officials who cooperate with them including forest rangers, local government officials and policemen.
Indonesia is a country especially hit by these corrupt networks and has a huge tax loss due to illegal timber trafficking. Illegal wood on the global market is a lot cheaper and forces legal producers to drop prices.
Water Sector
Corruption increases the costs of building water infrastructure by as much as 40 per cent – this equates to an additional
$12 billion a year needed to provide worldwide safe drinking water and sanitation.
Finally, we learned that corruption does not only have negative effects on environment but also on the most vulnerable. The rich and powerful exchange resources, benefits and money among themselves and leave the less privileged behind.
By Sina Gösele