As environmental crime goes global and awareness of its massive scope rises, finding agreement between governments on which illegal trades to target, and how, is not simple and leads to a piecemeal approach, a new op-ed argues. The case for international law enforcement cooperation is growing stronger, though, with the U.N. recently launching an intergovernmental process to explore new protocols targeting environmental crime under its existing convention against transnational organized crime, UNTOC. "A dedicated UNTOC protocol won’t solve everything, but it would mark a critical step toward harmonizing laws, closing enforcement gaps, and raising the cost for environmental offenders," the author writes. This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.