The Belgian parliament has adopted, by a strong majority, a resolution by the Ecolo-Groen parties aimed at recognising an international crime of ecocide.
By adopting this resolution, the parliament is making three demands of the Belgian government. It asks:
to "initiate a new international treaty of the most proactive countries (a 'coalition of the willing') to prosecute and prevent ecocide at the international level";
to "propose an amendment to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court of The Hague to include the new crime of ecocide" (in the same way as crimes against humanity); and
"to report to parliament on the upcoming expert opinion on the inclusion of the crime of 'ecocide’ in the Belgian penal code ".
The resolution was supported by the foreign affairs committee last month and has now been confirmed by this week’s plenary vote.
Proposer Samuel Cogolati is thrilled, calling it a “key day for the planet”.
This vote will encourage the government to make good on its suggestion at last year’s Assembly of State Parties of the International Criminal Court that “it would be useful to examine the possibility of introducing crimes known as ‘ecocide’ into the Rome Statute system in the context of the work of our upcoming sessions”.