Last week in Lviv, Ukraine, a group made up of heads of state, foreign ministers, prosecutors general, judges and legal advisors from the EU, Eastern Europe, the US and beyond met at a conference United for Justice to discuss legal and fair accountability mechanisms for international crimes being committed by Russia in Ukraine, and in particular to examine the legal practicalities of addressing the crime of aggression. It was a meeting of historic importance, being the first time such a high-level legal conference has been convened in a war zone during an ongoing conflict in order, in the words of Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenskyy’s opening address, to “develop a new format of international cooperation for the sake of justice.”
Also unprecedented was the specific attention given, in a panel on ”Prosecuting Environmental War Crimes” moderated by Maksym Popov, adviser to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine , to the severe environmental damage suffered in Ukraine during the conflict. This damage has already had initial assessment by UNEP and is ongoingly being documented in the affected territories. Ukraine’s environment minister Ruslan Strilets began the panel by setting out just how many and serious these harms have been.
The panel addressed legal mechanisms already available for prosecution of harm to the environment in wartime, their drawbacks and potential for use in the Ukraine context; but also discussed the usefulness for the future of putting in place an international crime of ecocide, something that Ukraine has a keen interest in, and has already strongly supported (see speeches by Ukrainian MPs at the Council of Europe debate and the PACE Resolution adopted in January).
Richard Rogers, international criminal lawyer and deputy co-chair of the Independent Expert Panel for the Legal Definition of Ecocide (convened by the Stop Ecocide Foundation in 2020), was a panellist at the event and spoke specifically on this topic, highlighting the advantages of ecocide becoming a standalone Rome Statute crime - most importantly its signal, both to warring parties and to prosecutors, that environmental damage must not be pushed “to the back burner”.
He also emphasised the appropriateness of Ukraine championing the establishment of such a crime, citing the historical importance of Ukraine (indeed Lviv in particular) as the intellectual birthplace of crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide; the weight of legal support and protection of the natural environment that such a crime would provide both to Ukraine going forward and to other victim states in the future; and the opportunity for Ukraine to “carve out a role for itself in the development of international rule of law issues”, having the credibility and expertise to lead the international community in this area, with “promoting an international crime of ecocide [being] a very good place to begin.”
In this regard, Ukraine would be joining, from the perspective of environmental harm in armed conflict, a direction of travel already established by the Pacific ocean state Vanuatu, known for championing legal avenues to address the global climate and ecological crisis. Ecocide law is profoundly relevant to both contexts.
Jojo Mehta, co-founder and executive director of Stop Ecocide International and Chair of the Stop Ecocide Foundation, said: “Ecocide law responds to a clear need for accountability that is becoming ever more visible in contexts both of peace and of war. Vanuatu as a victim of climate change and Ukraine as a victim of aggression are making the world aware of this need. Forward-thinking nations like Belgium are taking up the challenge in solidarity, and legislating for ecocide. Dozens of governments are beginning to take note and more must do so, in the understanding that protecting nature is about all of our futures. Framing this protection in criminal law creates accountability - and also helps everyone to steer in the right direction.”
Jojo Mehta was also present at the conference in Lviv by invitation of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office.
Richard Rogers, Maksym Popov & Jojo Mehta
Yuliiya Ovchynnykova, MP with Jojo Mehta
[NB various of the other conference panels including the high-level opening address and remarks can be found on the Ukraine Prosecutor General’s Office YouTube channel]