Scotland Introduces Landmark Ecocide Bill
Scotland is poised to become the first UK nation to criminalise ecocide - severe and reckless harm to nature - under a new Member’s Bill published in Holyrood today.
The Ecocide (Scotland) Bill, introduced by MSP Monica Lennon, would make it a criminal offence to cause widespread, long-term or irreversible environmental damage, with potential penalties including up to 20 years in prison for individuals and unlimited fines for companies.
The Bill will now be considered by the Scottish Parliament, with committee scrutiny and evidence gathering expected to begin before the summer recess. A full parliamentary vote could take place in 2025, ahead of the next Scottish election in May 2026 — the latest point by which legislation must be passed before the current parliamentary session ends.
This groundbreaking move positions Scotland at the forefront of growing international efforts to use criminal law to deter mass environmental destruction. In September 2024, Vanuatu, Samoa, and Fiji formally proposed an amendment to the Rome Statute to include ecocide as an international crime - a proposal now backed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the regional level, the European Union, also last year, adopted a revised Environmental Crime Directive that includes “conduct comparable to ecocide”, requiring all member states to transpose these provisions into national law by May 2026. Earlier this month, the Council of Europe adopted a landmark treaty, the Convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law, which enables states to prosecute conduct resulting in environmental disasters “tantamount to ecocide”.
Public support is also strong: a 2024 Global Commons Survey found that 72% of people across 18 G20 countries believe it should be a criminal offence for leaders to permit or cause serious environmental harm. To date, twelve countries - including Belgium, France, and Ukraine - have adopted ecocide or equivalent offences into domestic law, while at least nine others, such as Brazil, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, and Italy, are joining Scotland in actively advancing domestic legislation.
Key Features of the Bill:
Creates the crime of ecocide: defined as causing severe environmental harm either intentionally or through recklessness — where the harm is widespread, long-term or irreversible.
Up to 20 years imprisonment: for individuals found guilty, with provisions for publicity orders, remediation costs, and unlimited fines for corporate offenders.
Corporate accountability: senior executives can be held personally liable when offences involve their consent, connivance or neglect.
In support of the Bill, an open letter to members of the Scottish Parliament has been published, signed by over 100 prominent figures from around the world. Among the environmental advocates backing the Bill are Jonathon Porritt CBE, Dale Vince OBE, George Monbiot, Princess Esméralda of Belgium, Ian Redmond OBE, and Isabella Tree. Signatories include several King’s Counsels — notably renowned human rights barristers Michael Mansfield KC and Philippe Sands KC — as well as parliamentarians from Europe, the Caribbean, Africa, North America, and the Pacific Islands, including Vanuatu. Business leaders such as Paul Polman (formerly Unilever), Charlotte O’Leary (Pensions for Purpose), and Tessa Clarke (OLIO) are also among the supporters.
Scottish backers includes major public health charity Asthma + Lung UK Scotland, UNISON Scotland, Quakers in Scotland, RSPB Scotland, the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Friends of the Earth Scotland, environmental scientist and youth campaigner Laura Young, Royal Scottish Geographical Society’s Mike Robinson, the Reverend David J.M. Coleman (Eco-Congregation Scotland) — highlighting the Bill’s broad and cross-sector appeal.
Supporters say the Bill fills a critical legal gap and aligns Scotland with the emerging international consensus that some environmental harms are so serious, they must be treated as crimes — not just regulatory failures.
Monica Lennon MSP, introducing the Ecocide (Scotland) Bill, said:
“I’m delighted to be publishing the Ecocide (Scotland) Bill in the Scottish Parliament today, on a strong foundation of cross-party and public support. With ecocide law, Scotland can take bold and necessary action against severe environmental damage. Environmental destruction isn’t some distant issue for the people of Scotland - it directly threatens health, livelihoods, and the future of entire communities. From sewage spilling into waterways to toxic pollution left behind by heavy industry, the damage is real and ongoing. Ecocide is a crime against the common good, and those who commit widespread or irreversible harm should be held to account. This is a vital opportunity for Scotland to become the first UK nation to criminalise ecocide and signal that the destruction of nature won’t be tolerated here.”
Professor Kate Mackintosh, Executive Director, UCLA Law Promise Institute Europe, said:
“With this Bill, Scotland is helping to shape a pivotal moment in the evolution of environmental law. The move to criminalise ecocide at the national level reflects a growing global recognition that severe and reckless harm to nature deserves the same legal scrutiny as other grave crimes. By establishing criminal accountability for mass environmental destruction, Scotland contributes to an emerging legal framework that not only deters and punishes the worst offences against the natural world, but also upholds the fundamental human rights that depend on a healthy environment.”
Jojo Mehta, CEO and Co-founder of Stop Ecocide International, said:
“This Scottish Bill is a striking example of how national action can drive global change. Around the world, ecocide law is gaining ground as a vital tool — not just to punish environmental destruction, but to prevent it. While the ultimate goal is to have ecocide recognised as a serious crime all over the world, national laws play a crucial role in legitimising that goal, building momentum, and providing accountability now. They help shape legal norms that are increasingly being reflected in international frameworks.
“From the new Council of Europe Convention, which enables states to prosecute acts ‘tantamount to ecocide’, to the formal proposal by Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa to make ecocide a core international crime, momentum is accelerating. Scotland’s move adds meaningful weight to this shift, reinforcing the growing global consensus that mass destruction of nature must be treated as a crime — in law, and in principle.”
In Support of the Ecocide (Scotland) Bill
We, the undersigned, welcome the introduction of the Ecocide (Scotland) Bill and urge Members of the Scottish Parliament to support this pioneering legislation.
The proposed Bill arrives at a pivotal moment in the evolution of domestic and international environmental criminal law, as jurisdictions around the world begin to recognise that severe and reckless harm to nature — ecocide — demands the same legal seriousness as other grave crimes.
The past year has seen extraordinary momentum:
In May 2024, the European Union revised its Environmental Crime Directive to include conduct comparable to ecocide, with Member States now required to update their national laws by May 2026.
In September 2024, Vanuatu, Samoa, and Fiji formally proposed an amendment to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to add ecocide as a fifth core international crime — a move now officially backed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In May 2025, the Council of Europe adopted a landmark Convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law, providing for states to prosecute acts “tantamount to ecocide”.
Scotland is now among at least nine countries — including Brazil, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, and Italy — progressing domestic ecocide legislation, poised to join more than a dozen nations that have already enshrined the crime in law.
These developments reflect an urgent global need to establish meaningful accountability for the worst environmental harms — those that are severe and widespread or long-term — and to deter such destruction before it happens.
Public support for this shift is overwhelming. A 2024 Global Commons Survey found that 72% of people across 18 G20 countries believe it should be a criminal offence for political or corporate leaders to permit or cause serious environmental harm.
With this Bill, Scotland positions itself at the forefront of a global shift in environmental justice. It joins a rising number of jurisdictions turning bold words into binding law — strengthening protections at home while helping to shape emerging international norms that reflect both scientific reality and moral necessity. The Ecocide (Scotland) Bill sends a clear message: mass destruction of nature is beyond unacceptable — it’s criminal. With political will, the law can and must align with public conscience.
We urge Members of the Scottish Parliament to seize this historic opportunity.
Aileen McLeod
Director, Wellbeing Economy Alliance Scotland (WEAll Scotland)
Andrew Minto
Lecturer in Civil Engineering, Abertay University
Andy Middleton
Co-Founder, Youth Unite
Animal Equality UK
Antoinette Vermilye
Co-Founder, Gallifrey Foundation
Ben Goldsmith
Financier and Environmentalist
Bianca Pitt
Co-Founder, SHE Changes Climate
Brigid Inder OBE
Co-founder, Women's Initiatives for Gender Justice (WIJG)
Caroline Mair-Toby
Executive Director, Institute for Small Islands
Charles Perry
Sustainability Pioneer & Green Entrepreneur
Children’s Parliament
Communities' Reduce Reuse & Recycle Project (C3R)
Professor Damien Short
Professor of Human Rights and Environmental Justice and Co-Director of the Human Rights Consortium, School of Advanced Study, University of London
David Hunter
Senior Counsel, Bates Wells
Dr. Doug Specht
Reader in Cultural Geography, University of Westminster
Edinburgh Napier Students’ Association (ENSA)
Emma Howard Boyd
Chair, ClientEarth
Dr. Ewan Gibbs
FRHS, Senior Lecturer in Economic and Social History, University of Glasgow
Finn Finlayson
Systemic Practice Lead and former Fashion Revolution Scotland Policy Team Co-lead
Frieda Gormley
Founder, House of Hackney
George Monbiot
Author and environmental activist
Gerry Liston
Senior Lawyer, Global Legal Action Network
Howard Wood OBE
Co-founder of Community Arran Seabed Trust and Goldman Environmental Prize winner
Imanga Wamunyima Jr
MP of Zambia and Member of the Alliance of Parliamentarians for the Recognition of Ecocide Law
James Cameron
Hon.Fellow Grantham Institute for Climate Change and Environment, Imperial College London
Dr. Jason McCue
Senior Partner, McCue Jury & Partners LLP
Jessie Mond Wedd
Co-director, Lawyers for Nature
Jo Pike
Chief Executive, Scottish Wildlife Trust
Jojo Mehta
CEO and Co-Founder of Stop Ecocide International
Prof. Dr. Kai-Uwe Schrogl
President, International Institute of Space Law (IISL); former Chair of the Legal Subcommittee of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Yses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS)
Katy Dimmock
Public Sector (health) Senior Manager and former treasurer of Fashion Revolution Scotland
Kirsty Jenkins
Director of Policy, OneKind
Lammert van Raan
Advocate for Ecocide Legislation & Climate Action | Transition Leader | Former member Dutch Parliament
Laura Young
Environmental Scientist and Campaigner
Lisa Oldring
International human rights lawyer
Dr. Malayna Raftopoulos
Associate Professor, Department of Politics, Aalborg University
Marie Toussaint
Minister of the European Parliament and founder of the Alliance of Parliamentarians for the Recognition of Ecocide
Martin Crook
Senior Lecturer in Sociology, University of the West of England
Dr. Michelle Maloney
National Convenor, Australian Earth Laws Alliance
Mikko Pyhälä
Ambassador emeritus of Finland and former UNEP senior staff member
North East Scotland Climate Action Network
NESCAN
Paperboats Writers Collective
Paul Powlesland
Co-director, Lawyers for Nature
Petra Bayr
Member of the National Council Austria and Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Phoebe Tickell
Founder Moral Imaginations, Visiting Research Fellow on Nature Centric Governance at University of Reading.
Dr. Rachel Killean
Senior Lecturer, University of Sydney Law School
Raphaël Mahaim
Member of the Swiss Parliament and Alliance of Parliamentarians for the Recognition of Ecocide Law
Rob White
Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Criminology, University of Tasmania, Australia
Rushton Paray
Member of Parliament, Trinidad and Tobago and Alliance of Parliamentarians for the Recognition of Ecocide Law
Scottish Environment LINK
Dr Shela Sheikh
Senior Lecturer in International Politics, University of London
Sian Sutherland
Co-founder and Chief Changemaker, A Plastic Planet + Plastic Health Council
Steven Donziger
Human Rights Attorney
Dr. Suwita Hani Randhawa
Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, University of the West of England
Thomas Obel Hansen
Senior Lecturer in Law, Ulster University (UK)
UNISON Scotland
Will Attenborough
Actor and co-founder, Green Rider
Ximena Vengoechea
Advocate, Faculty of Advocates
Yuliia Ovchynnykova
MP of Ukraine and Member of the Alliance of Parliamentarians for the Recognition of Ecocide Law
Alexandra Attalides
Member of the House of Representatives, Cyprus and Member of the Alliance of Parliamentarians for the Recognition of Ecocide
Andy Jasper
CEO Eden Project
Andy Wightman
Former Member of the Scottish Parliament and land campaigner
Anna Ackermann
Board member, Centre for Environmental Initiatives Ecoaction (Ukraine)
Asthma + Lung UK Scotland
Ben Rawlence
CEO Black Mountains College
Brian McConnachie KC
Faculty of Advocates
Brontie Ansell
Co-director, Lawyers for Nature
Charles Burdett
Director of the Institute of Languages, Cultures and Societies, School of Advanced Study, University of London
Charlotte O'Leary
CEO of Pensions for Purpose
Cindy Forde
Author, Founder Planetari, Associate Fellow, Homerton College University of Cambridge
Dale Vince OBE
Founder of Ecotricity
David Fleetwood
Director of Policy, The John Muir Trust
Rev’d David J.M.Coleman
Environmental Chaplain, Eco-Congregation Scotland
Edinburgh & Lothians Regional Equality Council (ELREC)
Elizabeth May
MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands, Canada and member of the Alliance of Parliamentarians for the Recognition of Ecocide Law
Princess Esmeralda of Belgium
Journalist, Author, and Environmental & Human Rights Advocate
Fashion Revolution Scotland
Fraser Sutherland
Chief Executive, Humanist Society Scotland
Friends of the Earth Scotland
Georgia Elliott-Smith
Director of Fighting Dirty; Former UNESCO Special Junior Envoy for Youth & Environment
Dr Helen Dancer
Associate Professor in Law and Anthropology, University of Sussex
Ian Redmond OBE
Head of Conservation, Ecoflix
Isabella Tree
Writer, conservationist and Co-owner of Knepp rewilding projectIsabella Tree, writer, conservationist and Co-owner of Knepp rewilding project
Jane Davidson
Author of #FutureGen: Lessons from a Small Country; Architect of Wales’s Well-being of Future Generations Act
Jess Pepper
Founder Climate Café®; Director, Climate Café® CIC and Global Climate Café® Network
Professor Jill Belch
Professor of Vascular Medicine, University of Dundee
Joanne Chidley
Founder, Beauty Kitchen
Sir Jonathon Porritt
Author and Environmental Campaigner; Co-Founder of Forum for the Future, Former Director of Friends of the Earth
Professor Kate Mackintosh
Executive Director, UCLA Law Promise Institute Europe
Kevin Lindsay
ASLEF Scotland Organiser
Kristín Vala Ragnarsdóttir
Scientist and Professor Emerita, University of Iceland
Laura Clarke
CEO ClientEarth
Lewis Pugh
UN Patron of the Oceans and Lewis Pugh Foundation
Lucy Tammam
Creative Director, TAMMAM
Manda Scott
Author, Futurist and Founder of the Accidental Gods podcast
Dr. Mark Jones
Veterinarian, Head of Policy, Born Free Foundation
Michael Mansfield KC
Barrister, President of the Haldane Society and Patron of Viva!
Mike Robinson
Chief Executive, Royal Scottish Geographical Society
Niki Taylor MBE
Researcher in Regenerative Textiles, Lecturer in Regenerative Fashion Design, University of Edinburgh and former country coordinator of Fashion Revolution Scotland
Open Seas
Paul Polman
Former CEO of Unilever, Co-Founder and Chair Emeritus of IMAGINE, Board member at Systemiq Ltd, author of Net Positive and UN Sustainable Development Goals advocate
Pertti Salolainen CBE
Former Finnish Deputy Prime Minister, MP, and Ambassador to the UK
Professor Philippe Sands KC
Professor of Law at University College London
Quakers in Scotland
Ralph Regenvanu
Minister for Climate Change, Energy, Meteorology, Geohazards, Environment and Disaster Management for the Republic of Vanuatu
Richard McCready
Political Officer, Scottish Co-operative Party
RSPB Scotland
SCIAF
Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund
Scottish Youth Parliament
Dr. Shivali Fifield
Chief Officer, Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland
Sophie Dembinski
Global Head of Policy & Head of UK, Ecosia
Stop Climate Chaos Scotland
Tessa Clarke
Co-founder & CEO of Olio
Tim Smit
Co-founder Eden Project
University of Aberdeen Students' Union
Will Travers OBE
Co-founder and Executive President, Born Free Foundation.
The Young Women’s Movement