Congo Basin Climate Commission (CBCC), representing 17 states, calls for ecocide to be recognised as an international crime

Summary:

At the United Nations Environment Assembly, the Congo Basin Climate Commission (CBCC) signalled firm support for recognising ecocide as an international crime. In a meeting with Stop Ecocide International, Her Excellency Arlette Soudan-Nonault, Republic of the Congo Minister of the Environment, Sustainable Development and the Congo Basin and Executive Secretary of the CBCC, confirmed that the 17-nation Commission will support efforts to advance the issue within regional and continental processes.

The CBCC is one of the three African Union Climate Commissions established by the Heads of State and Government of the African Union and comprises 17 Member States: Morocco, Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, South Sudan, Tanzania, Chad and Zambia. His Excellency Mr. Denis Sassou Nguesso, President of the Republic of the Congo and Head of State, currently holds the presidency of the CBCC.

Her Excellency Ms. Arlette Soudan-Nonault announced her support for the initiative to recognize ecocide as a crime. To this end, several regional and continental channels of the African Union may be mobilised, notably the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSC) at the presidential level, as well as the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN), through its governance bodies, in particular the Council of Ministers. As an official instrument of the African Union, the Congo Basin Climate Commission (CBCC) also has the capacity to place this issue on the agenda of Heads of State Summits and to advance it within ministerial processes and broader African Union forums, subject to the agreement of its Member States.

This statement follows the position previously expressed by Her Excellency at the 20th African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN/CMAE) in July 2025, where the Republic of the Congo and Burundi officially expressed their support for the recognition of ecocide, an issue that has since gained further continental momentum through the leadership of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. That leadership helped pave the way for AMCEN’s decision to include the fight against ecocide among the continent’s environmental priorities for the 2025–2027 period, marking the first recognition within a United Nations forum of the criminalisation of mass environmental destruction as a strategic regional issue.

In October 2024, the DRC supported a proposal by Pacific Island States—Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa—to amend the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to include ecocide. 

Her Excellency Ms. Arlette Soudan-Nonault said:

“I reiterate what I said at the 20th session of AMCEN through my Chargé d’Affaires: the recognition of ecocide is essential to protect African resources and guarantee our sovereignty. Africa, rich in strategic minerals, cannot accept that their exploitation comes at the cost of the devastation of our forests, soils and communities. Criminalising ecocide means equipping our States with a strong legal tool to prevent destructive practices, strengthen our national frameworks and defend our common interests. I call for African unity around this imperative, because the global energy transition must take place with Africa and in respect of its environment.”

Patricia Willocq, Director for Francophone Countries at Stop Ecocide International, said:

“African mobilisation in favour of recognising ecocide is part of a global movement, notably driven by Pacific Island States and reinforced by emerging initiatives in Latin America. In a context of uncertainty within the international legal order, countries of the Global South, particularly those most exposed to environmental harm, are playing a leading role in defending and strengthening international environmental law.

“At the seventh session of the United Nations Environment Assembly, the CBCC’s position fully aligns with this wider dynamic. It also comes at a time marked by the adoption by the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court of a new policy on environmental damage. In this context, the CBCC’s stance confirms the determination of sub-regional organisations and their member states to contribute actively to the protection of vital ecosystems and to support the evolution of international law towards stronger recognition of serious harm to the environment.”