Since 1984 we've been investigating and campaigning against environmental crime and abuse. Just some of our tangible successes include.
Successes
Climate
- We exposed the illegal HFC refrigerant trade in Europe – ‘the biggest eco-crime no-one’s heard of’ (2021)
- We launched a cooling products list to help companies cut their collective carbon footprint (2021)
- EIA-commissioned research underpins the huge climate win of moving to propane-based air-conditioning (2020)
- Reports reveals Europe's flourishing illegal trade in HFCs (2019)
- Investigation finds outlawed CFC-11 widely used to manufacture insulation foams in China (2018)
- Global agreement to phase-down climate changing HFC gases (2016)
- EU agrees to curb use of HFC super greenhouse gases (2014)
- Fraudulent HFC carbon credits banned by EU (2011)
- Illegal e-waste investigation leads to seizure and arrest (2011)
Forests
- Helped secure international sanctions targeting Myanmar’s timber and natural resources sector to choke off funds for the junta (2021)
- Revealed enforcement gaps undermining efforts to stop illicit merbau trade, inspiring action by Indonesian Government agencies (2021)
- Pressured the Government of Indonesia to shelve plans to drastically dilute timber regulations under cover of the coronavirus (2020)
- Analysis reveals Indonesia is not set to fundamentally improve its palm oil standards (2020)
- Investigation exposes timber traders evading EU laws to to import Myanmar teak via Croatia (2020)
- Investigation reveals the top-level conspiracy behind the global trade in Myanmar's stolen teak (2019)
- Report exposes the industrial scale of Vietnam’s theft of timber from Cambodia (2018)
- Our analysis of EU and US law opened up new ways to curb illegal timber trade (2018)
- Steep decline in timber smuggling from Myanmar to China (2016)
- CITES conference agrees to protect Siamese rosewood (2013)
- Ten-year endeavour leads to adoption of EU Timber Regulation (2013)
- Report names China as world’s largest consumer of stolen timber (2012)
- Report sparks unprecedented illegal logging clampdown in Indonesia (2005)
- Exposure of illegal timber smuggling from Indonesia resulted in Malaysia implementing a log import ban (2002)
Ocean
- EIA's Ocean team spearheaded international efforts, helping to persuade the UN to negotiate a global plastics treaty (2022).
- Our study revealed the scale of trade in plastic waste – a 10 billion tonne plastic pollution bomb ticking away in every corner of the planet (2021)
- Led calls for a Global Convention on Plastic Pollution, helping to convince two-thirds of countries to support it (2020)
- UK supermarkets with plastic-specific reduction targets doubled from five to 10 and our annual survey exposes shortcomings in current commitments to cut plastic waste (2019)
- First ever UK retailers survey reveals full extent of UK supermarkets’ plastic footprint (2018)
- Report brings key evidence to the International Whaling Commission to foil Japan’s efforts to overturn the global whaling moratorium (2018)
- Helps secure UK plastic microbeads ban (2017)
- Pressures Rakuten to end all whale and dolphin meat sales (2014)
- Pressures Google to ban all ads for whale and ivory products (2013)
- Pressures Amazon to end all whale and dolphin meat sales (2012)
- Our first investigation into pilot whale hunting (1984)
Wildlife
- The fast growth of traditional Chinese medicine in Africa exposed as a direct threat to endangered species (2021)
- We launched the first-of-its-kind EIA Global Environmental Crime Tracker to analyse wildlife and forest crime (2021)
- Research reveals at least 24 Chinese pharmaceutical companies listing leopard bones in their traditional medicines (2020)
- China Customs makes a seizure of 2,748 elephant tusks following a major enforcement crackdown (2019)
- Report exposes key players of Vietnamese criminal syndicates trafficking elephant ivory (2018)
- Public consultation leads to UK Government shut down of domestic ivory market (2018)
- Chinese-run criminal empire put on US Treasury blacklist (2018)
- China confirms the closure of its domestic ivory market (2018)
- Comprehensive analysis of National Ivory Action Plans (NIAPs) supported CITES decision making (2018)
- Development of an online training tool for enforcement to tackle illegal ivory trade (2017)
- Investigation prompts enforcement action against ivory smugglers (2017)
- Major illegal wildlife trade hub in resort complex revealed (2015)
- Exposes trans-Himalayan big cat trafficking routes at CITES (2004)
- Pivotal role in securing global ivory trade ban at CITES (1989)
