Ecocide Article 1

Ecocide can be described as a crime against the Earth’s natural environment. In relation to ecocide, humanity has a choice, either to continue with ‘business as usual’, or stop the damage we are inflicting on the natural world. Nevertheless, those who own the giant chemical organisations and fossil fuel industries knew, and still know, perfectly well the damage they continue to inflict on the health of the Living Earth, and what do they do? They put their money into funding think tanks, politicians, foundations, and activists who are intent on discrediting the science since it couldn’t actually be refuted. They sent their agents and lobbyists and vast amounts of cash into the political system in order to ensure that their plundering ways would not be interfered with. And in the meantime, they continue with their efforts to get ever more energy out of the ground. The result can be measured in terms of the horrendous damage being inflicted to the life of the planet that sustains us.

Their prior knowledge of the damage they are doing to the natural environment is what should make this a criminal activity. And there are corporate precedents for this. The lead industry, the asbestos industry, and the tobacco companies all knew the danger of their products, yet made strenuous efforts to suppress the information about the damage caused to human health, or instil doubt about it even as they promoted the products they made, and went right on producing and selling them while others suffered and died. The real concern is that ecocide is not only a form of human self-destruction. It is a manifestation of the disregard for the fact that without the natural world we would not exist, thus we must first create the legislative framework for a green and life-enhancing economy. Second, we must safe-guard the natural environment that supports both human and non-human life forms.

The result can be measured in terms of the horrendous damage that has been and continues to be inflicted on the life of the Living Earth. This simply cannot continue. The fossil-fuel industry, as with the asbestos, lead and the tobacco companies all knew the danger of their products and still made. The term “ecocide” dates back to 1970, when Arthur Galston, an American botanist, described the appalling effects of Agent Orange on the forests of Vietnam. Decades later we can take heart in the growing call to make ecocide both a national and international crime.

“Ecocide is a word to describe what is happening to our planet; the damage and destruction of the natural living world. It literally means “killing one’s home”. And right now, in most of the world, no-one is held responsible.” (Stop Ecocide Foundation).  It’s time to change the rules.  It’s time to protect the Living Earth and humanity.

The Stop Ecocide campaign to establish ecocide as a crime prosecutable under international law is making important strides, gaining serious consideration at the parliamentary level in France and Sweden and elsewhere, with a panel of legal experts convened to draft its definition. Legal experts from across the globe have drawn up a "definition of ecocide" intended to prosecute offences against the Living Earth.  

The draft law, unveiled some time ago, defines ecocide as: “Unlawful, or wanton, acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe, or long-term damage, to the environment being caused by those acts”. At the moment there is certainly not enough being done to tackle the climate and ecological crisis. An ecocide law would become just the fifth international crime offence alongside war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression.

For Prof Philippe Sands QC, of University College London, and other international crimes rightly focus on the wellbeing of humans. Ecocide introduces a non-anthropocentric approach, namely putting the environment at the heart of national and international law. The most important thing about laws against ecocide is that they can be part of a process of changing public consciousness, recognising that we are interconnected with the natural environment, and are dependent for our wellbeing on the health of the Living Earth.

Ecocide law has been talked about for some time now. Recently, ecocide was considered for inclusion in the Rome statute establishing the ICC before being dropped. Again, the late Polly Higgins had for years campaigned for laws against ecocide. Our efforts to continue the struggle must continue. Now is the right time to establish local and international ecocide laws to protect the natural world from the destructive actions of non-concerned governments and authorities across the world.

The ecosystems and natural environments are threatened globally by the persistent damage caused which endangers the Living Earth and humanity itself. Thus the protection of the natural world must be guaranteed on an international scale.

Several small island nations, including Vanuatu, in the Pacific, and the Maldives, in the Indian Ocean, called for “serious consideration” of a crime of ecocide at the ICC’s annual assembly of states parties back in 2019. For Jojo Mehta, co-founder of the Stop Ecocide campaign: “President Macron is the first leader of a wealthy industrial nation – one of the G7 – to support an international crime of ecocide. Let us support such effort and look to other countries to follow his example.” Mehta continued: “Making Ecocide a crime will change the ground rules, closing the door to the destructive practices that have brought us to climate and ecological emergency … and paving the way for healthier, safer ways of operating acting in the world.” More and more people are calling on governments across the world to acknowledge ecocide as a criminal act.

As already pointed out, President Macron promised to criminalize ecocide on the international stage and has proposed a version of it in French law. Finland and Belgium both expressed interest, and Spain’s parliamentary foreign affairs committee has issued recommendations to consider it.

Valérie Cabanes is a legal expert and close associate of the Stop Ecocide campaign, is resolute: “We take Emmanuel Macron at his word concerning his wish to fight for the recognition of the crime of ecocide at the International Criminal Court on behalf of France. "Macron says he shares our emotion when faced with those who destroy entire ecosystems with full knowledge of the facts and with impunity.”

 See: Ecocide eration