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Crimes against the Climate: Violence and Deforestation in the Amazon
Organised crime has infiltrated the Amazon basin, seeking land for growing coca, rivers for drug trafficking and veins of gold underground.
These groups are endangering the rainforest and the safety of those attempting to defend it.
It is imperative that regional governments take protective measures.
- ICG
The fires and clearcutting rampant in the Amazon have stoked global concern about the future of the world’s largest rainforest, which plays a vital role in containing climate change by absorbing the carbon dioxide produced by combustion of fossil fuels.
What can get lost in the international debate is that organised crime is a…