A new Report from Health Poverty Action released on 05/10/2023 on the ‘Missing link to climate justice: Drug Policy’

Drug Policy Reform for Climate Justice. Image by Javie Huxley

The core message of the report is:

Drug prohibition is a key driver of organised crime, corruption and state capture in ecologically fragile regions. Addressing the climate emergency requires urgent, coordinated action by the environmental and drug policy movements, to replace prohibition with regulation that supports people and planet.  

Clemmie James, Senior Policy and Campaigns Officer for Health Poverty Action describes the report:

We have released this report to invite the environmental sector to acknowledge and act on the role of drug policy in regions key to our climate future.

As the report explains, when environmental justice organisations campaign against the degradation of forest systems and violence against rural and traditional communities – they are only telling half the story.

Prohibition has created an unregulated, profit-driven and powerful industry that operates in the shadows. This damages the environment in three keys ways. It pushes drug production and trafficking into key areas of biodiversity. It creates huge profits that are reinvested in other extractive industries, such as illegal mining and illegal cattle ranching that devastate the natural environment.

Finally, the profits and power that result from the illegality of drugs enable organised criminal groups to ‘buy off’ officials and undermine governance. This in turn means governments are less likely to are govern to prepare for the climate emergency and adopt climate mitigation and adaption strategies.

The cycle continues at the cost of the planet and public’s health.

Climate Justice and Drug Policy, share the link and support Health Poverty Action

You can find out more about the International Coalition on Drug Policy Reform and Environmental Justice here

More Resources on the link between the impact of drug policy on the climate and environment:

• • Health Poverty Action Poster: How current drug policy acts as a barrier to delivering climate justice
  • Open Society Foundations: Impact on Drug Policy and the Environment
  • Global Partnership on Drug Policies and Development
  • TransNational Institute: Aligning Drug Policy with Environmental Protection 66th CND Side Event, 2023

All images are created by Javie Huxley