1250 24th St NW
Washington
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About the Seminar
The global trade of goods has drastically and fundamentally changed in recent years. The illicit trade of natural resources and associated corruption threatens both biodiversity and the sustainability of our planet. This illicit activity is insidious: decimating wildlife, threatening our oceans and forests, and undermining responses to climate change. Forests are illegally felled, carbon markets are hijacked by criminals, illegal pesticides destroy the soil, and more.
Louise Shelley, author of Dark Commerce: How a New Illicit Economy is Threatening our Future, will share research from her 2018 book on how globalization and technological advances have fueled the exponential growth of dangerous illicit trade. Elizabeth Hart, Chief of Party of the Targeting Natural Resource Corruption Project, will discuss the challenges that corruption poses in this context, and how the global community can no longer afford to ignore it.
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About the Speakers
Dr. Louise Shelley is the Omer L. and Nancy Hirst Endowed Chair and a University Professor at George Mason University. Dr. Shelley directs the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC), which she founded. She is a leading expert on the relationship between terrorism, organized crime and corruption, human trafficking, and transnational crime and terrorism. She also specializes in illicit financial flows and money laundering. Her newest book, Dark Commerce, on illicit trade and sustainability, was released in 2018 with Princeton University Press. She has spoken at various international fora and universities, both in the United States and abroad, on transnational crime, terrorism, human trafficking, illicit trade, and corruption.
Dr. Elizabeth Hart is Chief of Party for the Targeting Natural Resource Corruption (TNRC) project at WWF. Supported by USAID, the goal of TNRC is to strengthen anti-corruption knowledge and practice to improve biodiversity outcomes by reducing threats posed by corruption to wildlife, fisheries and forests. Liz has more than twenty years of experience in governance and anti-corruption analysis and practice in the international development sphere. In addition to a 14-year career with USAID, she was formerly the director of the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre and an active consultant in governance, anti-corruption and development.