Summary
Formal process underway to include ecocide in Spanish penal code.
Process initiated by a broad political coalition in Catalan Parliament.
To become law, the proposed bill must next be voted through by the Catalan Parliament, then again at the national Parliament of Spain.
The Catalan Parliament has initiated a procedure to bring before the National Congress of Deputies a bill to include the crime of ecocide in the Spanish Penal Code.
The proposal, which was drafted and registered several months ago by the Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP), has been promoted by Stop Ecocide en español, the Xarxa per la Justícia Climàtica (which includes more than 30 NGOs) and SETEM Catalonia. In addition, 71 Catalan NGOs have signed the "Prou Ecocidis" Manifesto in support of this legislative initiative, joining over 300 associations, NGOs and companies that have already signed up the Stop Ecocide Manifesto at national level.
All the political groupings in Parliament took a position on the legislative proposal, which was supported by Esquerra Republicana (ERC), the Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSC), JuntsxCatalunya and En Comú Podem. Three of the interventions made direct reference to the legal definition of ecocide formulated by the Panel of Independent Experts convened by the Stop Ecocide Foundation two years ago.
From here, the proposal will continue its progress. There will be several months of hearings in which amendments can be introduced to the text, after which a final vote will take place at the Catalan Parliament. After that, the bill will be transferred to the national Parliament, which is the competent body for the creation of criminal laws in Spain.
Maite Mompó, Director of Stop Ecocidio, said,
"It is excellent news that the Catalan Parliament has initiated a procedure for ecocide to be criminalised within the Spanish Penal Code. This means that Spain would be one of the leading countries in Europe and the world in creating legal frameworks to prevent the worst damage to the environment and protect the basis of life. This is essential in the face of the great environmental and climate crisis in which we are immersed. It is a small step that paves the way for the Spanish Government to formally support the incorporation of the crime of Ecocide at the International Criminal Court."
Dani Corbellà of the CUP, who defended the proposal in Parliament, offered:
"We are proud that today, in the Parliament of Catalonia, the process has begun to incorporate the crime of ecocide into the Spanish Penal Code; proud because there is a very broad parliamentary majority that will support it throughout the process; so that, ultimately, this law proposal will be approved in Parliament in a few months time and will reach the higher chambers of the Spanish State where it can be debated and approved, incorporating ecocide into the Penal Code and paving the way for the Spanish State to request an amendment to the Rome Statute for the creation of the international crime.”
Jojo Mehta, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Stop Ecocide International said,
“The last few weeks have seen ecocide bills at various stages of proposal in Brazil, the Netherlands, Scotland and now Catalonia. Leaders around the world are beginning to wake up to the dangers we face, and there is now a clear direction of travel towards enforceable legal protection of the living world that sustains us.
It is only a matter of time before recognition of ecocide is accepted as a necessary legislative step towards a safer world - by a critical mass of nation states, at regional level and indeed at the International Criminal Court. The momentum we're seeing is keeping ecocide high up the global agenda, and well it should.”