WHAT STATE OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT WILL WE LEAVE FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS? REVIEW OF THE CAUSES OF THE CURRENT ECOLOGICAL CRISIS AND THE DEFINITION OF ECO-CRIMINOLOGY

The article provides an overview of the causes of the current environmental crisis, with three main sources being identifi ed: industrial development and large-scale agriculture, a rapidly growing global population, and environmental crime.The most serious environmental problems, such as global warming, air and soil pollution have also been characterised. The author briefl y charac-terises the defi nitions related to eco-criminology. The international commu-nity, governments, and NGOs are involved in improving the effectiveness of police cooperation in the fi ght against eco-crime, but it is still not effective enough.Environmental protection is currently one of the most important issues that humanity must address. The quality of our lives and maybe our surviv-al depend on it.