Political consensus on ecocide law emerging in Belgium as elections near

Summary:

• In run-up to June 9th elections, Flemish and Walloon political parties have been surveyed on a host of issues. 

• The survey, conducted by a coalition of Belgian environmental organisations and sent to all key political parties, included a question about support for amending the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to include a new crime of ecocide.

• Overall, parties showed significant support for environmental proposals, with parties PS, Ecolo, Les Engagés, Défi, PTB, PVDA, Groen, and Vooruit advocating strongly for international ecocide recognition and legally binding standards for companies, indicating significant progress since the last election.

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Against a backdrop of growing concern about environmental degradation and the urgent need for action, Belgium recently took an important step in with the adoption of a new criminal code, which includes the international crime of ecocide. Ahead of the upcoming elections on June 9th, a coalition comprising some of Belgium's most prominent environmental organisations, including Canopea, Greenpeace, Natagora, Bond Beter Leefmilieu, and Natuurpunt, has been actively engaging with Flemish and Walloon political parties to assess their policy stances on various issues.

In response to 38 proposals submitted to the parties, there was notable consensus on ecocide law. Parties including PS, Ecolo, Les Engagés, Défi, PTB, PVDA, Groen, and Vooruit expressed strong support for establishing recognition of ecocide as an international crime and setting legally binding standards for companies, emphasising the importance of new legislation in protecting ecosystems and local populations. Ecolo expressed the most ambitious engagement with the proposals, outlining a desire to broaden the definition of ecocide to cover regional jurisdictions and acts of negligence with serious environmental consequences.

In their own words:

PS: “We share the concerns of environmental organisations and wish to include international recognition of ecocide in the federal government's negotiations and in the next government agreement.” 

PTB/PVDA: “Respect for environmental rights must not depend on the goodwill of a company, for which maximising profits is the priority. This is why the PTB supported the proposal to recognise ecocide."

Ecolo: "Ecolo wishes to broaden the scope of the definition of the crime of ecocide, in particular to regional matters, and to aim for greater awareness of this crime at European and international level, and therefore its inclusion in the Rome Statute(...)This definition must also prevail At the same time, we also want to extend the powers of the European Public Prosecutor's Office to the fight against environmental crime."

Les Engagés: "We are, of course, totally in line with this statement, and our programme includes the following measure:"Fight impunity for environmental crimes at global level and pave the way, within the International Criminal Court, for ecocide to be recognised as an international crime under the Rome Statute".

Vooruit: "For Vooruit, it is clear: serious environmental damage is not only a crime against nature, it also threatens a prosperous existence. Every act of ecocide upsets the delicate balance of our planet. Vooruit therefore wants ecocide recognised as the fifth crime. In order to stop companies, which cause damage at the expense of future generations and the planet."

Patricia Willocq, Director of Stop Ecocide Belgium said: “Belgium's decision to criminalise ecocide reflects a growing recognition of the need to adopt robust measures to protect the environment. The almost general consensus (9 out of 12 parties) in favour of an international recognition of ecocide at the ICC marks a significant step forward in the fight against environmental crimes and in safeguarding ecosystems for present and future generations.”

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Survey results for the parties in Wallonia: https://www.canopea.be/elections2024/?utm_source=mailpoet&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=elections-3-majorites-possibles-en-wallonie-et-les-avancees-environnementales-que-chacune-pourrait-faire-1160

Survey results for the for the parties in Flanders: https://bondbeterleefmilieu.be/partijwijzer

EU Council votes to criminalise cases “comparable to ecocide”

Summary:

• The European Council has formally adopted a new environmental crime directive, which includes provision to criminalise cases ‘comparable to ecocide’.

• This is the latest and final vote on the new Directive and follows approval by the European Parliament in February and a landmark political agreement between the European Council, Commission and Parliament in November 2023.

• This vote marks the conclusion of the Directive’s legislative journey, which gained significant momentum in March 2023 when the European Parliament announced its support for the inclusion of ecocide legislation.

• Member states will now have a 24 month period, via the so-called ‘transposition’ process, in which to align national legislation with the newly adopted directive. 
  

  See the European Council’s press release here.
  You can see the official text adopted by the European Council here.

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Jojo Mehta, Co-founder and CEO of Stop Ecocide International, said: 

“The historic vote from the EU to include ecocide-level crimes in its revised crime directive shows leadership and compassion, and will strongly reinforce existing environmental laws across the region. It will establish a clear moral as well as legal “red line”, creating an essential steer for European industry leaders and policy-makers going forward. 

“The EU Parliament showed true ambition back in March 2023 by championing the inclusion in EU law of criminal provision aimed at preventing and punishing the gravest environmental harms. Today’s vote sees the European Council sign and seal this remarkable new piece of legislation. 

“This trailblazing revised directive has significant implications, not only for environmental safeguarding in Europe, but for humanity as a whole: it connects the regional to the global, sending a strong signal of political support for international legal recognition of ecocide that will be felt around the globe.“

4th largest Dutch city Utrecht calls on the Netherlands to support ecocide law

On March 6th, the city of Utrecht, represented by Alderman Linda Voortman, signed the Stop Ecocide NL Manifesto, which calls upon the Dutch government to support the recognition of ecocide as a crime at the international, European, and national levels.

With this action, Utrecht becomes the first Dutch local authority to join over 200 organisations and companies that have already signed the Manifesto, including the Dutch Committee of Jurists for Human Rights, ASN Bank and Wellbeing Economy Alliance Netherlands. 

Local authorities face various climate challenges and are tasked with ensuring a healthy environment, combatting climate change, and preserving biodiversity. To meet these responsibilities, they require appropriate and supportive legislation. Recognising ecocide will deter and prevent the worst harms to the environment, encourage compliance with existing legislation and steer business and investments towards sustainable activities.  

Alderman Linda Voortman (GroenLinks), who signed the Manifesto on behalf of Utrecht, explains: "Declining biodiversity is a global issue. One million species of animals and plants are threatened with extinction. Biodiversity is also under pressure in the Netherlands. As a municipality, we feel a great responsibility and urgency to improve biodiversity. We do this by increasing biodiversity at the local level and inspiring others within and outside Utrecht. We sign the manifesto because we also want to globally halt ecocide. Additionally, we aim to put the protection of biodiversity on the international agenda." 

Dr. Daan van Uhm, Associate Professor of Criminology and researcher at the Willem Pompe Institute for Criminal Law Sciences at Utrecht University, was also present at the signing ceremony. Dr. Van Uhm explores the topic of ecocide in his work and is active in the multi-disciplinary research group Pathways to Sustainability, with expertise in criminology, earth sciences, humanities, ecology and law. 

"At Utrecht University, we consider ecocide legislation to be very important," said Dr. Van Uhm. "Changing social norms and values underscore the significance of ecocide law. Ultimately, these are issues for the near future. How do we deal with large-scale damage to nature? We see that such behaviour is increasingly viewed as unwanted, at international and European level, but also in the Netherlands. Criminal law can play a more important role in this regard. Ecocide is one of the paths towards the recognition that we need stronger safeguards against large-scale and serious damage to the environment that currently goes unpunished.”

"Stop Ecocide NL congratulates Utrecht for its leadership in being the first of the four big Dutch cities to express support for the international recognition of ecocide. We look forward to seeing who will follow suit," says Tanja Beentjes of Stop Ecocide NL. 

Read the article on the municipality's website. 
Stop Ecocide NL’s Manifesto: https://www.stopecocide.nl/manifest

Pictured: Daan van Uhm, Saskia Oskam, Tanja Beentjes and Linda Voortman.

United Nations Civil Society Forum: ‘recognise ecocide as an international crime’

Summary:

• The Joint Global Statement of Major Groups and Stakeholders (Joint Global Statement), presented at the Sixth United Nations Environmental Assembly (UNEA-6) held from February 26 to March 1 2024, at United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, stated that working 'towards the universal recognition of ecocide as an international crime' would serve as a 'powerful deterrent' against the most severe environmental harms.

• The 20th Global Major Groups and Stakeholders Forum (GMGSF 20), which produced the Joint Global Statement, took place in the days immediately prior to UNEA-6. GMGSF 20 marked the culmination of a global consultation process, conducted both online and in-person, which engaged civil society stakeholders including NGOs, trade unions, women's groups, indigenous peoples, members of the scientific community, and representatives of global youth movements. 

• The Joint Global Statement contributed to a high-level Multistakeholder Dialogue at UNEA-6, which was overseen by H.E. Leila Benali, President of UNEA-6, and Ms. Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP.

• This is the second time that the Global Major Groups & Stakeholders Forum has produced a Joint Statement calling for the addition of a new standalone crime of ecocide to the International Criminal Court’s Rome Statute.

You can find the full-length Joint Global Statement of Major Groups and Stakeholders here.

Sweden: business leaders call for new international crime of ecocide

Summary:

• In an open letter published by Aktuell Hallbarhet, and timed to coincide with the European Parliament voting through an updated environmental crime directive, six CEOs, including Jenny Rundbladh of pensions giant SPP, called for the establishment of an international crime of ecocide under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. 

• The executives, from companies SPP, Houdini, Icebug, Polarbröd, Svea Solar and Rejlers, made an explicit call to the Swedish business community to get behind the growing global initiative to criminalise the most severe harms to nature. 

• The company heads emphasised the positive impact a new standalone international crime of ecocide could have on business, as well as the planet, stating, ‘a law that criminalises the most serious destruction of the earth's living ecosystems would reduce the possibility of running companies at the expense of nature while paving the way for companies with solutions that are truly sustainable’ (translated). 

• Acknowledging the significance of the new EU environmental crime directive, and the inclusion of a provision to criminalise cases ‘comparable to ecocide’, the six CEOs called on Sweden’s government to go further and look beyond the European region to secure the inclusion of ecocide in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, alongside genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. 

• The open letter references the Ecocide Law Alliance, champions of the ecocide law movement in Sweden and beyond, formed in 2022 to bring together and mobilize forward-looking businesses that want to create conditions for fair competition within planetary boundaries and promote sustainable business.

Read the open letter published by Aktuell Hallbarhet here.

Finland: MPs call for new international crime of ecocide

Summary:

• On February 20, 2024, a group of Finnish Green MPs, including former Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo, submitted a formal written question to the government, inquiring about the administration's intentions to promote the establishment of a new standalone international crime of ecocide via the International Criminal Court.

• In a press release, Ohisalo made the case for the new crime, saying, ‘large-scale, long-lasting and serious destruction of the environment is now a crime in times of war, but not in times of peace. This is unreasonable and the matter must be fixed.’

• Referring to Ukraine, with which Finland signed a Memorandum of Understanding whilst Ohisalo was Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, she said, ‘‘those who are guilty of natural destruction during the war should be held accountable for their actions’ and that, ‘repairing the environmental damage caused by the war is a key part of Ukraine's reconstruction’. 

• Finnish parliamentary procedure dictates that the minister responsible - in this case the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Elina Valtonen - will now have to address the issue in parliament or offer a formal written response to the submitted question. 

Read the full written question submitted to the Finnish government here. 
Read the Vihreät (Greens) press release here

Experts call for international criminal court to introduce new crime of 'ecocide'

Summary:

• Prominent members of the international legal community, politicians, academics, businesses and NGOs have responded to a public consultation held by the office of the Chief Prosecutor of the ICC, calling for a new crime of ecocide to be introduced into the Rome Statute. 

• Key respondents include “the king of human rights work", Michael Mansfield KC, Laura Mary Clarke OBE, CEO of ClientEarth, crossbench UK peer Baroness Boycott, Finnish Ambassador emeritus Mikko Pyhälä, Vanuatu’s Climate Change and Environment Minister, Ralph Regenvanu and Co-president of Club of Rome, Sandrine Dixson-Declève. 

• The consultation comes just weeks after the European Parliament voted to adopt a new EU crime directive that includes a provision to criminalise 'cases comparable to ecocide'.

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Politicians, lawyers, academics, environmental charities and business leaders from around the world have responded to a public consultation held by the office of the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan KC, urging the court to introduce a new international crime of ecocide into the Rome Statute.

The call for public comments from the Office of The Prosecutor (OTP) is aimed at informing the first draft of a proposed policy paper on how the Rome Statute could better address environmental crimes.

The respondents include "the king of human rights work", Michael Mansfield KC, Laura Mary Clarke OBE, CEO of ClientEarth, crossbench UK peer Baroness Boycott, Finnish Ambassador emeritus Mikko Pyhälä, Vanuatu’s Climate Change and Environment Minister, Ralph Regenvanu, and Co-president of Club of Rome, Sandrine Dixson-Declève. 

Among the international organisations that have responded to the OTP’s consultation is U.S based Avaaz, whose petition asking lawmakers worldwide to establish new domestic and international ecocide laws recently gathered more than 500,000 signatures. 

The respondents highlight the limited protection for the environment currently offered by the Rome Statute, which focuses primarily on deliberate and systematic harm to humans and protected property such as religious buildings or UNESCO heritage sites. As it stands, the only explicit protection for the environment within the statute applies to acts committed during wartime.

Introducing a new standalone crime of ecocide to the Rome Statute would criminalise the most serious cases of environmental destruction during both peacetime and conflict.

The concept of ecocide law has been gaining significant traction. In February, Belgium included the crime in its new penal code and several other states, including Brazil, Scotland, England, the Netherlands, Spain (Catalunya) and Italy have all seen ecocide bills proposed or progressed in the last year. The European Union agreed in November to include crimes “comparable to ecocide” in its revised Environmental Crimes Directive, a decision that will now see all 27 member states introduce equivalent legislation within the next two years. 

Establishing ecocide as the fifth international crime in the Rome Statute, alongside genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression, would ensure that the most serious forms of environmental destruction would be criminalised at the very highest level, acting as a global deterrent for would-be perpetrators in the most senior positions of decision making power.

Human Rights expert and Head of Nexus Chambers, Michael Mansfield KC, used his response to the consultation to highlight the potential role that an international crime of ecocide, had it been implemented when the ICC was established, could have played in averting the current climate crisis, saying, “I strongly support the inclusion of ecocide in the calendar of international crime. The serious failure to do so in 1998 has been marked by a commensurate increase in climate crimes linked to fire, flood, drought, causing poverty, homelessness, and famine. None of these are covered by existing legislation which is focussed on conditions of war and conflict.

“All this poses the biggest threat to our very existence than any other cause. Without criminal sanction and implementation the gradual elimination of our carbon footprint will become a forlorn hope.

“In 2012 together with Polly Higgins I mounted a mock ecocide trial at the Supreme Court in London, concerning environmental events at that time, in order to demonstrate how it could work in practice. The events were the Deepwarter Horizon oil  spill in the Gulf of Mexico and Tar sands extraction development in Canada. The relevant company directors were indicted. One was convicted by the randomly selected jury and the other acquitted.”

Sandrine Dixson-Declève, Co-president of The Club of Rome, said, “Every so often one comes across a simple initiative that has the power to create major positive change from within a complex system. One such initiative is making it a crime to severely harm the living world.  

“The structure is already there to support it - the International Criminal Court. Recognition of "ecocide" within the ICC is entirely achievable, with recognised pathways to follow, and fills an obvious gap - a gap that has enabled devastating damage to environment and climate to take us to the brink of disaster.  

“There are a number of extraordinary turnarounds in the economic, political, social and cultural spheres that must be accomplished in order to reach a stable and equitable survival scenario for humanity; through all of this the parameters for an earth in physical balance - planetary boundaries - must be respected.  Ecocide law is a logical route to the requisite judicial enforcement of those parameters.“

Honourable Ralph Regenvanu MP, Climate Change and Environment Minister, Republic of Vanuatu, said, “Vanuatu welcomes the OTP’s renewed commitment to tackling environmental crimes. The unprecedented challenges posed by environmental damage, and hence climate change, must be urgently addressed, and international criminal law can play a key role in ensuring justice for people and nature.

"Vanuatu has long championed the addition of ‘ecocide’ to the Rome Statute as the fifth crime against peace, being the first country to call for its adoption at the ICC in 2019. 

"We reaffirm our support to seeing severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being criminalised at the international level, and urge the OTP over the coming months to take into account the ever growing global support for ecocide as a standalone crime in the Rome Statute.”

Jojo Mehta, Co-founder and CEO of Stop Ecocide International, said,  “Ecocide - in substance if not in name - was included within early drafts of the Rome Statute.  It is worth reflecting critically upon what may have been different in our world today - the multiple pollution disasters, climate change exacerbation and threats to biodiversity that could have been averted - if it had in fact been included in the final treaty signed in 1998.  

"This public consultation presents a golden opportunity for the Office of the Prosecutor to: acknowledge the need and demand for the recognition of ecocide in international criminal law; recognise the gravity of environmental crimes and their threats to peace, security, and global prosperity and well-being; and recommend the negotiation of a fifth international crime of ecocide. This would establish enforceable environmental protections for people and nature, both in peacetime and in conflict, on Earth and in space, for present and future generations.”

Click here to read the full-length responses to the OTP's consultation from those featured in this article.

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NOTES TO EDITORS:
Stop Ecocide International’s comments on the Office of the Prosecutor’s proposal of a policy on Environmental Crime can be found here. 

About Stop-Ecocide International 
SEI is the driving force behind the growing global movement to make ecocide an international crime. Its core work is activating and developing global cross-sector support for this initiative. SEI collaborates with diplomats, politicians, lawyers, corporate leaders, NGOs, indigenous and faith groups, influencers, academic experts, grassroots campaigns and individuals to this end. 

About Jojo Mehta 
CEO Jojo Mehta co-founded Stop Ecocide in 2017, alongside barrister and legal pioneer the late Polly Higgins, to support the establishment of ecocide as a crime at the International Criminal Court. She is Chair of the charitable Stop Ecocide Foundation and convenor of the Independent Expert Panel for the Legal Definition of Ecocide chaired by Philippe Sands QC and Dior Fall Sow.

New Islamic charter calls ecocide 'analogous to crimes against humanity'

Summary:

• Launched at the United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi, the Al-Mizan: A Covenant for the Earth charter, has been drafted by leading Islamic eco-theologians and practitioners from around the world. 

• The term "Al-Mizan" refers to balance or justice, and is often used to describe the equilibrium that should be maintained in all aspects of life, including the relationship between humanity and the environment.

• The charter creates a comprehensive Islamic framework on ecological and moral responsibility, urging collective action for the protection of our planet and states: “The enormity of the crime of ecocide – the extirpation of entire ecosystems, communities of species, including our own – can best be appreciated by considering the horrors of genocide – the extirpation of ethnicities and cultures. Crimes against the creation – al-khalq, al-‘ālamīn – are analogous to crimes against humanity and are no less grave. This kind of corruption in the Earth has yet to be recognised, litigated, and penalised in national and international legislation.”

• The charter ends by envisioning a way forward, offering ideas and pledges towards resolving global crises.

The full 'Al Mizan, Covenant for the Earth' can be downloaded here.

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Kamran Shezad, Director of the Islamic Foundation for Ecology & Environmental Sciences and part of the drafting team said: “Inspired by Islamic scripture, the charter holds humankind and nature in equal measure. It addresses the triple planetary crisis and especially the destruction of nature. Al-Mizan does not shy away from calls for ecocide to be recognized as a crime alongside genocide and war crimes”

Iyad Abumoghli, Director of the Faith for Earth Coalition of UNEP said: “Al-Mizan is an unbreakable covenant with the Earth, for in its balance lies the sustenance of all life. Our commitment to stewardship must be unwavering, our actions deliberate, for in the harmony of Al-Mizan, we find the essence of our existence.”

EU Parliament votes to criminalise cases “comparable to ecocide”

Summary:

• The European Parliament has today voted through a new environmental crime directive, which includes provision to criminalise cases ‘comparable to ecocide’.

• A landmark political agreement was reached on the new crime directive in November 2023, following months of negotiation between the European Council, Commission and Parliament

• The European Parliament, along with the Parliament’s rapporteur on the directive, Netherlands MEP Antonius Manders, have been at the centre of efforts to secure new EU legislation aimed at preventing and punishing the most severe environmental harms since it announced its support for the inclusion of “ecocide” in the new directive in March 2023.

• To complete its legislative journey, the new directive will be subject to a vote by the European Council, scheduled to take place next month (March).

• Member states will then have 24 months, via the so-called ‘transposition’ process, in which to align national legislation with the directive. 

You can see the official text adopted by the European Parliament here.

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Jojo Mehta, Co-founder and CEO of Stop Ecocide International, said: 

“The historic ruling from the EU to include ecocide-level crimes in its revised crime directive shows leadership and compassion, and will strongly reinforce existing environmental laws across the region. It will establish a clear moral as well as legal “red line”, creating an essential steer for European industry leaders and policy-makers going forward. 

“The EU Parliament showed true ambition back in March 2023 by championing the inclusion in EU law of criminal provision aimed at preventing and punishing the gravest environmental harms. Today’s vote sees the Parliament sign and seal this remarkable new piece of legislation. 

“That we now have political agreement on the revised crime directive has major implications, not only for environmental safeguarding in Europe, but for humanity: it connects the regional to the global, an immensely strong signal of political support for international legal recognition of ecocide that will be felt around the globe.“

Belgium becomes first European country to recognise ecocide as international level crime

Belgium’s Federal Parliament has today voted in favour of a new penal code for the country, which, for the first time in Europe, includes recognition of the crime of ecocide at both the national and international levels.

Nationally, the new crime of ecocide, aimed at preventing and punishing the most severe cases of environmental degradation, such as extensive oil spills, will apply to individuals in the highest positions of decision-making power and to corporations. The punishment for individuals may include up to 20 years in prison, while corporations could face fines of up to 1.6 million euros. 

Within Belgium’s federal monarchy, domestic environmental legislation is primarily the responsibility of the three regional governments of Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels. The scope of this new law is limited to areas within the jurisdiction of the federal authority, including the North Sea and nuclear waste management. 

The limited domestic scope of the new bill is not a reason to dismiss the significance of the development, says Patricia Willocq, Director of Stop Ecocide Belgium:
“Last November, following months of relentless advocacy from a diverse coalition of political allies, the European Union reached an agreement to incorporate a new dedicated offense into its recently revised environmental crimes directive, targeting ‘cases comparable to ecocide’. Now, all 27 member states are tasked with aligning their domestic penal codes with this updated directive, a process that will extend to Belgium's three regions. We anticipate that this effort will significantly reduce any disparities between federal and regional environmental criminal laws. As Belgium holds the presidency of the European Union, this directive should encourage the regions to play their part in the area of their competence.”

“Belgium is now at the forefront of a truly global conversation around criminalising the most severe harms to nature and must continue to advocate for the recognition of ecocide at the International Criminal Court, alongside genocide. In order to fully protect nature, it is necessary that those that would wilfully destroy vast swathes of the natural world, in turn causing untold human harm, should be criminalised. We will continue to campaign to eradicate ecocide from Belgium and the world.” 

Additionally, Belgium has become the first European country to recognise ecocide as an international crime, based on the consensus definition proposed in 2021 by the Independent Expert Panel (IEP) convened by the Stop Ecocide Foundation, in its penal code. 

The country has already recognised genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression and is now adding a nature-centered element to its penal code by recognising a fifth crime under international law: ecocide. 

Samuel Cogolati, Member of the Federal Parliament (Ecolo (Green) Party), who played a significant role in championing the inclusion of ecocide in the new penal code, said, 
"After 4 years of fighting in Parliament and in civil society, our penal code is finally coming to the aid of the planet: the worst attacks against the environment are about to be criminalized. Our mobilization is bearing fruit! Let us send a strong signal to the international community: the Belgian Parliament recognizes ecocide as a fifth 'international crime'. 

CEO and co-founder of Stop Ecocide International, Jojo Mehta, said:
“Belgium has demonstrated strong leadership today not only on a national level, but on behalf of all of us who are made more vulnerable and whose livelihoods are directly threatened when the most powerful in society make decisions that result in mass-scale environmental destruction. 

“There is real momentum growing around the ecocide law conversation at every level currently. We’ve seen a growing list of states take concrete steps towards establishing new domestic crimes of ecocide in the last year, including the Netherlands, Scotland, Mexico, Brazil, England, Italy and Spain. 

“With prominent voices like that of Belgium leading the way, tangible progress is being made internationally, particularly so in Europe following last November’s agreement to include ecocide-level crimes in the EU’s revised environmental crimes directive. 

"I have no doubt we’ll see international recognition of the crime of ecocide in the near future.”

There has been significant civil society support for the inclusion of ecocide in the updated penal code, with a Greenpeace hosted petition garnering more than 43,000 signatures. 

Greenpeace was one of a coalition of organisations operating in Belgium that came together on the issue, including Stop Ecocide International, Canopea, Rise for Climate, Climate Justice for Rosa, Fondation européen pour le droit du vivant, Kaya, Climate Coalition and the Grandparents for the Climate.

‘Unprecedented’ report on environmental impact of Ukraine conflict recommends ecocide investigation units

Summary:

• A new report, ‘The Environmental Compact for Ukraine’, has been published by the country’s High-Level Working Group on the Environmental Consequences of the War.

• The report highlights the presence of the crime of “ecocide” in Ukraine’s penal code (Article 441), notes the recent increase in the incorporation of the crime into domestic legislation across the globe and makes special reference to the Independent Expert Panel’s 2021 definition of ecocide. 

• In an effort to increase the capacity of those investigating and prosecuting the environmental and ecological consequences of the war, the report recommends (p.12) the creation of new special investigative units dedicated to environmental war crimes
and ecocide.

• In a press release, Andriy Yermak, Head of the President's Office, said the compact ‘will be passed on to all world leaders for consideration and will be a topic of discussion at international forums and conferences.’

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You can find the full report, 'An Environmental Compact For Ukraine', here.

An accompanying press release from the Office of the President of Ukraine can be found here. 

Hearings on proposed ecocide bill begin in Catalan parliament

Summary:

• Ecocide bill proceedings continue in Catalan Parliament 

• Representations heard from NGOs, community groups and experts

• The hearings are part of an approval procedure necessary for any bill to progress to the national Congress of Deputies.

• The bill was first introduced in the Catalan Parliament in 2022.

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On Thursday 18 January, representations to the Catalan Parliament were heard from NGOs, community groups and experts on a bill to incorporate the crime of ecocide into the national Penal Code of Spain.  

The bill received its first approval in a debate on 26 July. The hearing process is part of the approval procedure for the final text that any bill presented in the Catalan Parliament must undergo before progressing to the national Congress of Deputies.

The hearing was attended by representatives of five political parties (1), who asked the speakers questions regarding the principles and criteria on which this proposed ecocide law is based. Stop Ecocide International (SEI) was invited to participate in this first hearing, and was represented via video intervention by CEO Jojo Mehta and in person by Maite Mompó, Director of Stop Ecocide in the Spanish language. Josep Maria Mallarach, President of Silene Association and Doctor of Biology also spoke.

The next speakers of the day were Antoni Pigrau Solé, from the Tarragona Centre for Environmental Law Studies, and Susana Borràs Pentinat, professor of International Public Law and European Union Law at the Rovira i Virgili University of Tarragona.

The ecocide law proposal closely follows the legal definition of ecocide drawn up in 2021 by an Independent Expert Panel convened by the Stop Ecocide Foundation.  The definition has become the global benchmark for representation of this crime.

According to Maite Mompó, "Despite the fact that ecological crime is recognised in Spain, it is clear that our current criminal legislation is not effective in preventing the worst damage to the environment. Proof of this is that serious, extensive and long-lasting damage to valuable ecosystems has continued to take place, as evidenced by the cases of El Mar Menor and Doñana. The introduction of the crime of ecocide will serve to strengthen existing legislation and help to protect our environment more effectively".

Alex Guillamón, spokesperson for Entrepobles, said: "This parliamentary initiative is responding to the demands of more than 80 Catalan environmental and social organisations, and is part of an international movement that more and more countries are joining: one of the most recent supporters being the European Parliament".

It is also important to point out that, at this very moment, a tragedy of great environmental damage is unfolding off the coast of Galicia, following the dumping of some 26 tonnes of plastic pellets from a Liberian-flagged ship. Only tougher international legislation can prevent episodes such as this from occurring.

It is therefore necessary both to develop specific protection and prevention laws, as in this case for the oceans, and to recognise the crime of ecocide at the International Criminal Court in order to strengthen all current and future legislation.

1. Silvia Paneque Sureda (Socialistes i Units per avançar); Eugeni Villalbi Godes (Esquerra Republicana); Salvador Vergés i Tejero (Junts per Catalunya); Dani Cornellà Detreill (Candidatura  D'Unitat Popular); y Marina Bravo Sobrino (Ciutadans)

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For more information:

Maite Mompó, Directora Stop Ecocidio en habla hispana;   660 512 423  maite@stopecocidio.org

Alex Guillamón, Portavoz de Entrepobles;    691 501 789 alex.guillamon@entrepobles.org

Stop Ecocide International Attends World Economic Forum 2024

Summary:

• Stop Ecocide International CEO Jojo Mehta attended the World Economic Forum in Davos between 15th - 19th January 2024

• Jojo spoke at two events: ‘Where Nature Meets Conflict’, live-streamed on Tuesday 16th January and ‘Law and Litigation for Climate and Nature’ on Thursday 18th January. 

• A clip of Jojo’s contribution to the live-streamed event on Tuesday 16th was virally misreported, including by Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson, Donald Trump Jr and Fox News. 

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AFP Fact Check article correcting the misreporting of Jojo Mehta’s contribution to the WEF ‘Where Nature Meets Conflict’ event can be found here. 

A clarifying statement from SEI, including an extended quote from Jojo Mahta, on the misreporting can be found here.

The full recording of ‘Where Nature Meets Conflict’ event is available here.