Global Civil Society Calls for an International Crime of Ecocide ahead of UN Environment Assembly

Summary

A joint statement adopted at the 21st Global Major Groups and Stakeholders Forum (GMGSF-21) has called for ecocide to be recognised as a crime at national and international levels. Released ahead of this year’s UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-7), the text reflects the positions of NGOs, Indigenous Peoples and their communities, youth, women, farmers, workers, local authorities and the science and technology community.

The statement explicitly calls for ecocide - the most severe forms of environmental harm - to be prevented and criminalised in both times of peace and conflict. And for UNEA-7 to advance work on ecocide over the next two years, including collaboration with states already working to codify and address environmental crimes, including ecocide, under national and international criminal law.

Alongside its call for ecocide law, the statement sets out recommendations on chemicals and waste, biodiversity, the cryosphere, the deep sea, sustainable food systems and antimicrobial resistance. It emphasises the importance of Indigenous Peoples’ rights, meaningful public participation - understood as inclusive, informed and safe involvement of civil society and affected communities in environmental decision-making - the protection of environmental defenders and science-informed, rights-based governance.

Significantly, the statement also draws attention to the new Policy on Addressing Environmental Damage Through the Rome Statute issued by the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Court, which clarifies how severe ecological harm can already fall within some existing atrocity crimes and reinforces the broader legal trajectory toward codifying ecocide.

You can read the full GMGSF-21 statement here.