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EU Tackles ‘Ecocide’ in Landmark Moment for Environmentalism

Advocates are hailing the legislation as a landmark moment for global environmentalism, and especially the Stop Ecocide movement, which seeks to move legal enforcement of the most serious environmental crimes from the civil into the criminal arena – and thus reframe egregious destruction of nature as more akin to crimes against people.

By Trevor Bach for US News, 02/02/2024

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Robin Gairdner Robin Gairdner

Ecocidio y lucha por la biodiversidad’, en el Hay Festival de Cartagena de Indias: Philipe Sands, Rebecca Solnit, Brigitte Baptiste y Eliane Brum, conversan sobre la biodiversidad y los retos frente al medio ambiente. 28/01/2024

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Scotland leading the conversation in move for 'ecocide' laws, says top campaigner

Jojo Mehta, CEO of the group Stop Ecocide International, said Scotland is now at “the forefront of the global conversation” on criminalising ecocide - a term to describe severe types of environmental destruction.

It comes as Scottish Labour MSP Monica Lennon is consulting on groundbreaking proposals for an Ecocide Bill in Scotland.

By Dan Vevers for the Daily Record, 20/01/2024

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Ambientalistas y juristas sostienen que el concepto de ecocidio debería ser punible en la Corte Penal Internacional para hacer frente a los crímenes contra el medioambiente. 18/01/2024

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The term “ecocide” first emerged during the Vietnam War, used to describe the destructive environmental consequences of the defoliant Agent Orange. After featuring in United Nations talks during the following decades, by 1998, ecocide had been proposed as an international crime against peace in a draft of the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the ICC.

By Fermín Koop for Diálogo Chino, 16/01/2024

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There is "a clear legislative direction of travel" in several national jurisdictions, at a regional level in the European Union and even at a global level, where progress is made "towards the recognition of #ecocide ."

By EuroNews, 15/01/2024

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While several climate activists have been sent to prison for their involvement in disruptive protests, legislation is now also being strengthened to impose criminal sanctions on individuals found responsible for large-scale environmental damage.

By Claudia De Meulemeester for SustainableViews, 11/01/2024

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Ecocide law gives us the opportunity to bridge the gap between what existing legal instruments can achieve and what the science is telling us must be done.

By Professor Kristin Vala Ragnarsdóttir and Professor Eleanor Sharpston KC for Ecologist, 20/12/2023

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Robin Gairdner Robin Gairdner

Humans have this deep separation from nature, that gives us a kind of cultural inability to recognize the severity of what it means when we harm the natural world. We have a large number of environmental laws around the world, and what we’re seeing is that they’re not effective or adequate to address global, ecological, and climate crisis.

By Matthew Green for DeSmog, 8/12/2023

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The Scottish Government has been urged to show “much-need global leadership” at COP28 and harness its work on loss and damage into efforts to tackle ecocide.

The appeal comes after delegates unexpectedly agreed to set up a global loss and damage fund on the first day of COP28 in Dubai, with at least $400m pledged so far.

By David Bol for The Herald, 1/12/2023

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New EU "Ecocide" crime agreed. Perpetrators could face at least 10 years in prison while companies could be hit with fines as high as €40 million per offence.

By Katie Surma for Inside Climate News, 23/11/2023

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The European Union has become the first international body to criminalise widescale environmental damage “comparable to ecocide.

By Isabella Kaminski for The Guardian, 17/11/2023

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Although civil penalties exist for pollution, the proposed strong criminal law for the most serious damage to the environment, with proposed jail terms of between ten and 20 years for individuals and large fines for companies, would make anyone think twice before committing to a course of action which would cause serious harm to nature or the climate.

By Richard Dixon for The Scotsman, 15/11/2023

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The ecocide legislation would make Scotland the first part of the UK to incorporate a crime of ecocide - defined as "unlawful or wanton acts" which cause widespread environmental damage.

By BBC News, 8/11/2023

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Big polluters could see 10% of their turnover seized while climate criminals could face up to 20 years in prison for wrecking the environment under plans tabled by a Labour MSP.

By David Bol for The Herald, 8/11/2023

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By calling for international recognition of the crime of ecocide, to ensure lasting legal protection for all life on Earth, we would be changing the rules of the game within which the current model of capitalism operates.

By Tessa Clarke for BusinessGreen, 01/11/2023

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… Rome Statute must be amended to recognise a stand-alone crime that aims to prevent and punish the most severe harm to nature — ecocide.

By Richard J. Rogers and Moneim Adam for euronews, 26/10/2023

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Los escritores se unen a la campaña para denunciar los ecocidios. Maite Mompó y Rodrigo Lledó, de Stop Ecocidio, participaron junto a Ángel Juárez, presidente de Mare Terra Fundación Mediterrania-Red Internacional de Escritores por la Tierra (RIET), y Néstor Martínez, periodista ambiental de El Salvador, en un debate virtual. 18/10/2023

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