Operation Green Shield 2026 Seizes $280 Million in Assets Over 17 Days
The UAE has led a major international operation against environmental crime in the Amazon basin, resulting in 839 arrests and the seizure of assets valued at more than $280 million over 17 days. The operation, carried out under the UAE's Law Enforcement for Climate programme, was conducted in partnership with Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil, making it one of the largest coordinated security operations ever mounted against environmental crime in the region.
Operation Green Shield 2026 began in July and was coordinated from a multinational command centre in Bogota, deploying more than 3,600 law enforcement personnel across 1,045 field operations. The results were announced by Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, who said the operation demonstrated the UAE's ability to turn international initiatives into high-impact, tangible results, while building a more effective global model to combat cross-border environmental crime. The seized assets included equipment and materials linked to illegal mining, logging, wildlife trafficking, fuel smuggling and land grabbing.
Crackdown Builds on Cop28 Climate Programme and 2025 Pilot Operation
The operation targeted criminal networks blamed for damaging biodiversity and threatening local communities across the Amazon basin. Officials said it led to the seizure of 280,450 cubic metres of illegally harvested timber and more than 195 tonnes of minerals, alongside the identification of 800 incidents of illegal fishing. Enforcement teams also rescued more than 3,079 live animals and recovered at least 1,136 dead animals linked to wildlife trafficking networks.
The Law Enforcement for Climate programme was launched at the Cop28 summit hosted by Dubai in 2023, in partnership with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, as part of the UAE's broader push on climate accountability. A similar but smaller operation in the Amazon in 2025 led to 94 arrests and the seizure of assets worth more than $64 million over two weeks, meaning this year's operation represented a significant expansion in scale. The UAE has stepped up its climate-focused initiatives in recent years, including a 2025 law establishing a legal framework for climate resilience and greenhouse gas accountability, while the Zayed Sustainability Prize, now in its 18th year, drew a record 10,233 entries from 177 countries in 2026, a 32 per cent increase on the previous cycle.
