A Legal Milestone for Nature: Latin America Begin the Process of Adopting A Model Law on Ecocide
Latin America is home to an extraordinary share of the planet's biodiversity — and, at the same time, to some of its most severe socio-environmental conflicts. In response to this reality, the region is moving towards an unprecedented legal instrument: a Model Ecocide Law designed specifically for Latin American legal systems.
The initiative is led by Stop Ecocide International, together with the Association of Environmental and Climate Criminal Law Researchers (AIDPAC), the Mexican Centre for Environmental Law (CEMDA), the Universidad Iberoamericana, and the Alliance of Environmental Law Clinics of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Why a regional model law?
In 2021, an Independent Expert Panel convened by the Stop Ecocide Foundation developed a technical definition of ecocide for the purposes of international criminal law. This definition underpins the amendment to the Rome Statute put forward in 2023 by Vanuatu, Fiji, and Samoa. However, for ecocide to be effectively incorporated into the domestic legislation of countries in the region — which share a civil law tradition — an adaptation process is needed, one that takes into account each country's constitutional framework, existing environmental legislation, and local socio-environmental realities.
The Model Law does not seek to replace national legislative processes, but rather to provide a technical and legal reference point that can strengthen future legislative initiatives across the region, tackle impunity for the most serious destruction of ecosystems, and ensure that ecocide can be effectively prosecuted and penalised.
A participatory process in three phases
The drafting of the Model Law is conceived as a collaborative process, moving from civil society engagement through to legal expertise. "The first stage consisted of an open regional Public Consultation for the general public, held between June 5 and July 19, 2026, which successfully brought together a wide diversity of stakeholders: citizens, academia, indigenous peoples, social organizations, and specialists from multiple Latin American countries. Currently, in the second phase of the process, Virtual Meetings with Experts from various Latin American countries are taking place, addressing key points of the legal structure of the future Model Law.
The conclusions of the Public Consultation (first phase) and the Virtual Meetings with Experts (second phase) will be systematized to serve as input for the work of more than 30 experts from different countries across the region. These experts will participate in the final drafting of the Model Law during an In-Person Congress in Mexico City (third phase), where the definitive version of the Model Law on Ecocide for Latin America will be drafted.
This final stage will take place between September 29 and October 1, 2026, in Mexico City.
For more information:
Maite Mompó: maite@stopecocidio.org
Rodrigo Lledó: rodrigo@stopecocidio.org
