Ecocide Law in the media
“The term ‘ecocide’ does not appear in the text of the Convention, but campaigners like Stop Ecocide International say most conduct described as ‘ecocide’ will be criminalised under provisions dealing with particularly serious offences.”
Irish Legal News, 15/05/25
“The Council of Europe has just adopted an international treaty which will help member countries to tackle serious environmental crime. States will now be able to prosecute intentional acts that result in environmental disasters that are akin to ecocide.”
Rosie Frost for Euronews, 14/05/25
“Scotland’s ecocide laws could result in public bodies such as councils and water companies facing criminal prosecutions, the MSP bringing forward the legislation has suggested.”
David Bol for The Scotsman, 04/05/25
Bart Joachim Bes, Co-Lead for Stop Ecocide Danmark, writes about the rhetorical power of the term ecocide, as well as the potential of ecocide law to bring about transformative change in environmental protection.
Bart Joachim Bes for Altinget, 30/04/25
Italian magazine Donna Moderna interviews Jojo Mehta, Co-Founder & CEO of Stop Ecocide International, about her work to criminalise mass harm to nature.
Stefania Divertito for Donna Moderna, 18/04/25
Voke Ighorodje, Director of the international justice programme at the REED Centre, writes about ecocide law in an op-ed for the Nigerian outlet Premium Times.
Voke Ighorodje for Premium Times Nigeria, 12/04/25
“The CEO of Gothenburg Port Authority is one of several Swedish business leaders who have expressed their support for stricter legislation against ecocide”
Lovisa Herold for Dagens Nyheter, 19/03/25
“Tessa Clarke, co-founder and CEO at Olio, makes the case for robust legislation to prevent and punish ecocide, outlining how it could make doing business sustainably the norm.”
Tessa Clarke for edie, 12/03/25
CBC’s Laura Lynch explores the movement to make ecocide an international crime and speaks to Stop Ecocide International’s CEO and Co-Founder, Jojo Mehta.
Laura Lynch for CBC, 07/03/25
“We urgently need a paradigm shift. We need global commitments to be translated into concrete actions, with effective accountability mechanisms. One hopeful proposal is the initiative led by Stop Ecocide International , which seeks to make ecocide the fifth crime under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.“
Rodrigo Lledó for EcoNews, 05/03/25
Climate Talk speaks to Wolf-Christian Hingst, Branch Lead for Stop Ecocide Deutschland, about the movement to criminalise mass environmental destruction, known as ecocide.
Sven Focken-Kremer for Climate Talk Deutschland, 20/02/25
En el programa ‘Sin Fin’ hablan con Constanza Soler, Coordinadora regional de Stop Ecocidio Internacional, sobre la campaña a nivel mundial y de los avances desde ‘Argentina Sin Ecocidio’, para que el ecocidio sea tipificado como delito en Argentina. 13/02/2025
“Argentine citizens have launched a campaign on Change.org to have ecocide classified as a crime in the country. With the slogan ‘Argentina Without Ecocide’ , the initiative has already gathered more than 20,000 signatures…”
Nota Alpie, 07/02/25
¿Qué mensaje damos como sociedad cuando los delitos ambientales tienen penas excarcelables? Necesitamos herramientas legales sólidas para que estos crímenes se traten con la seriedad que merecen.
Entrevista a Rodrigo Lledó, Director para América de Stop Ecocidio Internacional. 30/01/2025
“The Supreme Court on Thursday compared the irreversible damage caused by the discharge of untreated effluents from tanneries in Vellore into the Palar river… to an ‘ecocide’.”
Krishnadas Rajagopal for The Hindu, 30/02/25
“Though it seems unbelievable, threatening the very future of humanity via the mass damage and destruction of nature is not illegal, but Stop Ecocide International wants to change that.”
Sophie Benson for No Kill Magazine, 29/01/25
“After a long process of revision, the new EU Environmental Crime Directive entered into force on 20 May 2024.”
Théa Bonfour for Dalloz, 10/01/25
“‘In March 2024, the European Council (EC) criminalised wide-scale environmental damage “comparable to ecocide” ... it has been branded ‘revolutionary’ environmental legislation.”
HKA for Lexology, 08/01/25
“Jojo Mehta, Co-Founder of Stop Ecocide International, says the Scottish proposal will not have been lost on Westminster. A surge in domestic legislation is also spurring a call to put ecocide under the remit of the International Criminal Court.”
Claudia de Meulemeester for Sustainable Views, 06/01/25
“Scotland is to formally debate an ecocide law…If passed, it would make Scotland the first part of the UK to criminalise widespread environmental damage”
Isabella Kaminski for The Ends Report, 17/12/24
“Suffering some of the worst effects of climate change, the The Pacific states of Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa submitted a proposal to the ICC in September to recognise ecocide, which could allow for the prosecution of heads of state or bosses of large polluting companies.”
Joanna Gill and Noah Anthony Enahoro for Context, 13/12/24
“[Monica] Lennon [MSP] is eager to gather as much support for her Bill from fellow MSPs as possible before the deadline passes.
Emma Lawson for The Sunday Post, 10/12/24
“In this post, I discuss the failure in a lot of the discourse to acknowledge the most challenging issues in defining ecocide. This is an appeal to interested participants to engage with uncomfortable but central conundrums that must be addressed in a sound definition.”
Darryl Robinson for EJIL Talk!, 28/11/24
Mediante un Proyecto de Ley, la comisión de Justicia del Congreso aprobó, por mayoría, un dictamen que modifica el Código Procesal Penal para crear el delito de “ecocidio”, que contempla penas de hasta 15 años de cárcel. La presente ley tiene por finalidad fortalecer la protección del medio ambiente, así como sus derechos y bienes conexos. 27/11/2024
“At a time when the focus is on restoring Danish nature, a proposal to make the destruction of nature an international crime is worth considering, write Bart Bes and Florina Cianga-Christophersen, from Stop Ecocide Denmark.”
Bart Bes and Florina Cianga Christopherson for Klimamonitor, 20/11/24
El partido ‘Sumar’ pide en una iniciativa en el Congreso incluir el ecocidio en el Código Penal. La coalición impulsada por Yolanda Díaz plantea también reconocerlo como crimen autónomo en el Estatuto de Roma de la Corte Penal Internacional. 15/11/2024
“Scots' overwhelming support for a new crime of “ecocide” has been revealed as COP29 gets under way. Some 98 per cent of respondents to a public consultation on Lennon’s proposed Ecocide Prevention Bill backed her plan, the Record can reveal.”
Dan Vevers for Daily Record, 12/11/24