Latin American and Caribbean Legal Alliance Calls for the Criminalisation of Ecocide
Summary:
The Santiago Declaration, signed at the Fifth Meeting of the Alliance of Environmental Law Clinics of Latin America and the Caribbean, acknowledges the progress made toward the criminalisation of ecocide and calls on states to build on this progress.
As part of the 5th Regional Meeting of the Alliance of Environmental Law Clinics of Latin America and the Caribbean, held at the University of Chile Law School, academic, legal, and civil society representatives adopted the Santiago Declaration, a historic document that marks a new milestone in the effort to secure environmental justice in the region.
Co-organised by Stop Ecocide International, the session brought together legal clinics committed to the development of environmental law from a critical, territorial, and intercultural perspective.
One of the most significant provisions of the Declaration is the explicit support for recognising and criminalising ecocide. The document notes:
“We highlight the doctrinal, legislative, and institutional advances aimed at recognising and criminalising ecocide at the national and international levels, as a tool to strengthen the protection of ecosystems and accountability for serious, widespread, and irreparable environmental damage.”
The Declaration also cites the most recent developments in international climate law, including Advisory Opinion OC-32/25 of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on state obligations regarding climate change, as frameworks that establish legally binding standards.
In its call to States, the Declaration demands the guarantee of the human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, as well as the comprehensive protection of environmental defenders, in accordance with the Escazú Agreement and other international instruments.
This meeting also marks the beginning of a new phase of collaboration between Stop Ecocide International and the Alliance of Environmental Law Clinics: the process of drafting a Model Law on Ecocide for the region. The Alliance joins as a co-organiser of this process, which seeks to provide Latin American and Caribbean countries with a legal framework for the criminalisation of ecocide at the regional and national levels.
Read the full Santiago Declaration here.