October 1 - Latin American environmental and legal experts unveil a Model Ecocide Law designed to provide a framework for countries across Latin America to criminalise severe environmental destruction.

A bill to criminalise severe environmental destruction (ecocide) has been submitted to Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies – the lower house of the country’s parliament.

Argentina took a significant step towards criminalising ecocide and other serious environmental crimes when the Senate's Justice and Criminal Affairs Committee and Environment and Sustainable Development Committee approved a Bill that would, if passed by the full Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, establish a dedicated chapter on environmental crimes, including ecocide, within the Argentine Penal Code for the first time.

The Santiago Declaration, signed at the Fifth Meeting of the Alliance of Environmental Law Clinics of Latin America and the Caribbean, acknowledges the progress made toward the criminalisation of ecocide and calls on states to build on this progress.

Ten years after the collapse of the Fundão dam in Mariana, London’s High Court has finally reached a decision. In November 2025, the Court recognised the liabilityof mining company BHP, under Brazilian law, for what is widely considered the largest environmental disaster in the country’s history.

On 17 March 2026, Dominican Congresswoman Llaniris Espinal reintroduced a bill to criminalise ecocide, following its initial submission in June 2025. The bill, co-sponsored by 39 other elected representatives, was re-tabled as part of…

This guest blog is authored by Mathieu Brien, Founder of Carnivorex and the movement Sauvegardons la Grande Tourbière de Blainville (Save the Great Peatbog of Blainville).

The Lima Bar Association has placed the legal recognition of ecocide at the centre of its highest civic distinction, awarding the Civic Medal of Law to Jojo Mehta and Rodrigo Lledó Vásquez of Stop Ecocide International.

Rodrigo Lledó is Americas Director at Stop Ecocide International. He is a lawyer and has a Master’s in Public Law and Constitutional Law, as well as a PhD in Law.