Environmental crime affects us doubly. Its effects are not always immediately visible, but they have very significant and undermining consequences for the living environment, economy, and society. Society bears the costs of both environmental and economic damage. Moreover, environmental crime harms the health of people, animals, and the living environment.
On April 15, 2025, the Establishment Decision for the Strategic Environmental Chamber was published in the Government Gazette. This means that the partners already working together to tackle environmental crime will gain more strength in establishing a national strategy, a threat assessment for environmental crime, setting joint priorities, and providing advice.
In 2024, the Strategic Environmental Chamber released a thematic threat assessment on crime in the plastic chain and in the area of climate. Formalizing the collaboration leads to more coherence and cooperation among the organizations committed to combating environmental crime.
Strategic Environmental Chamber
The Strategic Environmental Chamber is formed by the Functional Prosecutors Office, the environmental services, the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA), the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT), the police, and the Netherlands Labour Authority. The establishment of the Strategic Environmental Chamber is one of the actions through which the Netherlands implements new European legislation that gives criminal law a stronger role in protecting the environment.