EU Forum Urges ICC to Criminalise Ecocide

Summary

• A cross-party declaration from the 73rd meeting of COSAC (Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the European Union) - a formal EU-level forum for cooperation between the European Parliament and national parliaments of EU Member States - has for the first time acknowledged ecocide as a potential addition to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

• The COSAC Contribution, formally adopted on 10 June 2025 in Warsaw, notes (paragraph 20) that “the war in Ukraine has caused considerable cross-border environmental damage, which is a matter of great concern. COSAC calls for Russia’s actions to be examined in the context of ecocide and classified as an environmental crime under the Rome Statute.”

• This development reflects increasing political momentum across Europe for legal accountability mechanisms to address severe and widespread environmental harm. It aligns with other recent advances, including the revised EU Environmental Crime Directive, which introduces offences ‘comparable to ecocide’, and the new Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law, which enables prosecution of environmental destruction ‘tantamount to ecocide’. 

Swedish Member of Parliament Rebecka Le Moine (Green Party), who has long advocated for legal recognition of ecocide at both national and international levels, welcomed the COSAC endorsement:

“I see this as an important step forward, with a shared understanding within the EU of the need to complement the Rome Statute with the crime of ecocide. Support is growing, but we must ensure it does not remain passive. National leaders need to take an active role in shaping a future where large-scale environmental damage is addressed as a criminal act.”

The official contribution from the LXXIII COSAC, adopted on 10 June 2025, can be accessed here.