COP30: DRC President Calls for International Crime of Ecocide

Summary

At the opening ceremony of COP30 in Belém, Félix Tshisekedi, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), reaffirmed his country’s support for the formal proposal by Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa to amend the Rome Statute and recognise ecocide as a standalone international crime.

In his address, President Tshisekedi described the escalating environmental destruction linked to conflict in the DRC as “an ecological war” and emphasised the global significance of criminalising severe and widespread or long-term damage to nature.

“The aggression my country is suffering is also an ecological war, as it destroys our forests, our protected areas, our parks. My country therefore fully understands the significance of the initiative by Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa to recognise ecocide as an autonomous international crime. To deliberately destroy a primary forest, an ancient peatland, or a protected area essential for carbon storage is to endanger the future of humanity,”

- H.E. Félix Tshisekedi, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The DRC has become a central voice in the international effort to criminalise ecocide. As the first African state to endorse the formal proposal to include ecocide as a fifth international crime at the International Criminal Court, it has consistently elevated the issue across diplomatic arenas, convening ministerial meetings and driving high-level dialogue among states. This sustained leadership helped secure a major milestone in July 2025, when the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) placed ecocide among Africa’s strategic environmental priorities for the 2025–2027 biennium.

You can watch President Tshisekedi’s full COP30 opening ceremony speech here (Ecocide reference from 4m53s)