Understanding the Environmental Harm Resulting from Criminal Organizations Activities and their Facilitators in Latin America and the Caribbean

The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the U.S. Department of State announces an open competition for organizations to submit applications to carry out a project to assess and quantify the environmental impacts of criminal organizations activities in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). This project will provide a wholistic picture of what crimes affect the environment, who perpetrates them, the resulting harms, and how they fit into the overall network of transnational organized crime and drug trafficking in the Western Hemisphere. United States’ climate and environment diplomacy aspires to realize economic growth, energy security, and a healthy planet. The well-being of the natural world affects millions of U.S. jobs and the health of our people, and so the Department of State works with partners to advance U.S. interests on issues such as addressing the climate crisis, combating wildlife trafficking, fostering resilience, conserving nature, ensuring water security, and reducing harmful pollutants. This project aligns to INL’s Bureau Objective 3.2 to ensure foreign partner civilian security institutions have the institutional capacity to manage borders and protect sovereign territory. Civilian security institutions often lead or are involved in the effective management of land and maritime borders, as well as contribute to a stable international security environment by deterring territorial incursions or the unlawful exploitation of natural resources that have the potential to escalate into regional conflict. This objective includes INL’s efforts to build institutional capacity related to certain specialized law enforcement functions, border management, maritime law enforcement, and efforts related to peacekeeping.