Environmental Crime In Figures

The French Ministerial Statistical Department for Internal Security (Service statistique ministériel de la sécurité intérieure, also known by its acronym "SSMSI") has published, for the first time, a study on environmental damages.¹

The publication of these figures, which do not, however, cover all environmental crimes, is interesting.

The figures are those reported by the national police and gendarmerie services. The study, therefore, does not include offenses that may be recorded by customs services, environmental inspectors, the French Biodiversity Agency, agents of the French National Forests Office or municipal police forces.

They concern the recorded offenses, the plaintiffs and the persons involved in the perpetration of such offenses. The study does not provide information about the prosecution of these offenses before the courts.