International criminal law is the most under-used tool in the fight against environmental damage and climate harm. Serious environmental destruction is too often treated as an unfortunate by-product of conflict or industrial activity, when it may in fact constitute an international crime. The June 2026 Manual on Prosecuting International Environmental Crimes, drafted by UCLA’s The Promise Institute for Human Rights and Climate Counsel, aims to reshape understanding and practice, showing in practical terms how environmental harm can be prosecuted under existing international criminal law, either as a war crime in conflict situations or as a crime against humanity in peacetime. This panel will discuss the Manual and its application to serious environmental harm in both conflict and peacetime situations, with specific examples from real-life situations.

• Moderator: Xuchen Zhang, Legal Advisor, The Promise Institute for Human Rights

• Donna Cline, International Criminal Lawyer

• Kate Mackintosh, Executive Director, UCLA’s The Promise Institute for Human Rights

• Rosemary Mwanza, Lecturer at Kabarak University School of Law

• Richard Rogers, Executive Director, Climate Counsel