Stop Ecocide at 2nd UN Ocean Conference, Lisbon 2022
For a full summary, please click the image.
UN Ocean Conference co-host Kenya announces proposal to criminalise ecocide
UN Ocean Conference, Lisbon: Mr Keriako Tobiko, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for the Environment and Forests, revealed the landmark legislation proposal as part of Kenya’s revision of their Environment Management Coordination Act, during the country’s official statement to the plenary of the conference in Portugal this week. You can watch Tobiko’s statement here (from 1:02:00 onwards).
CS Tobiko said that the legislation submitted for discussion and approval by the Kenyan parliament will "revolutionize environmental governance" and that it "contains critical principles, which include the recognition and protection of defenders of environmental rights, protection of forests and green spaces, recognition of the right to nature and, most importantly, creation of the crime of 'ecocide'".
CS Tobiko made the declaration alongside commitment to a range of measures Kenya is taking with regard to marine pollution and ocean health regeneration, including multi-stakeholder approaches to a “blue economy” as well as specific actions such as extension of an existing ban on manufacture and use of polythene bags to curb plastic pollution.
Kenya is co-hosting the UN Oceans conference this week along with Portugal. This high-profile announcement puts Kenya in a leadership position with regard to the gathering momentum around the world to criminalise ecocide - the worst harms to our planetary home.
SPAIN: Making ecocide a crime in the Penal Code among recommendations of Citizens’ Climate Assembly
The first Citizens' Climate Assembly in Spain, made up of 100 citizens, has made recommendations to the national government, framed around 58 objectives. The recommendations have been organized into five areas: consumption; food and land use; communities, health and care; working society and ecosystems. The final report is public and is available on the website of the Citizens' Climate Assembly.
Among the main recommendations to the Executive is the need to create a crime of 'ecocide' in the Spanish legal framework. This recommendation received 100% support:
“Recommendation no. 147: Make ecocide a crime in cases of massive damage and destruction of the ecosystem in the Spanish legal framework”:
Ecocide, broadly, is the massive damage and destruction of ecosystems, i.e. serious damage to nature which is widespread and sustained over time. The criminalisation of this offence should be understood as a deterrent so that these crimes are not committed because they must be prevented; otherwise the damage is very serious and possibly irreparable.
This citizen’s forum, run on participatory and deliberative lines to encourage collective reflection and knowledge, has generated consensus on how to tackle the major transformations needed to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 and to make the country more resilient to the impacts of climate change.
The report, containing 172 recommendations, was delivered to the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez,on Monday 6 June. The third vice-president and Minister for Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO), Teresa Ribera, was also at the event. This report will be presented to the Plenary of the Congress of Deputies, to facilitate discussions and decision-making on climate change policy at all levels of government and among other actors in the economy and society.
Among the measures included in the report are: the adoption of a National Strategic Ecosystem Restoration Plan; maintenance and restoration of rivers and aquatic ecosystems; the training of judges and members of the judiciary on legal responses to climate change and environmental protection; and the reduction of soil pollution and decontamination of polluted soils.
Left Alliance of Finland supports criminalization of Ecocide
The Left Alliance is one of the five parties in Finland’s coalition government. The presidents of all these five parties are women.
As the first political party of Finland, the Left Alliance adopted the following statement in its annual conference on 12th June, 2022:
“The Left Alliance supports the criminalization of ecocide in the Statute of the International Criminal Court. In this Statute, ecocide would mean unlawful or wanton acts with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment caused by those acts.” (See two documents below)
This decision incorporates in exact wording of the consensus definition of ecocide as proposed by the Independent Expert Panel in June, 2021. The Expert Panel for the legal definition of ecocide was convened by the Stop Ecocide Foundation and Co-chaired by Professor Philippe Sands QC,University College London / Matrix Chambers and Dior Fall Sow, UN jurist and former prosecutor.
In his official intervention at the official side event, hosted by the Republic of Vanuatu and Stop Ecocide Foundation, at the Conference of the Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court on 11th December, 2020, Mr. Pekka Haavisto, Foreign Minister of Finland, expressed his country’s interest in the Expert Panel’s work: “It is important to ensure such new international law would have a strong preventive effect… we follow this work with interest and look forward to the report of the international group of experts…” Mr. Haavisto belongs to The Finnish Greens Party.
The proposal to support criminalization of ecocide at the Left Alliance conference was sponsored by Maija Kuivalainen, Youth Climate Delegate of Finland at the Climate COP26 in Glasgow, 2021, and at the Stockholm+50 international environmental meeting in June, 2022. Members of Parliament of the Left Alliance filed a Parliamentary Action Initiative on the criminalization of ecocide on 10th June, 2022, with signatories additionally from The Greens and the Social Democratic Party. Maija is a student of environmental sciences at the University of Eastern Finland, and also a Member of the Municipal Council of Joensuu.
Please see page 10.
Please see pages 15 and 17.
Stop Ecocide Foundation at UN Montevideo Programme
For a full summary, please click the image.
Right Livelihood Award laureates call for ecocide law
57 laureates of the Right Livelihood award (often considered the “Alternative Nobel Prize”) have sent a message to UN Stockholm+50 international environmental meeting urging “acknowledgement of ecocide as a crime”.
Dozens of laureates of the Right Livelihood award, including household names such as David Suzuki, Vandana Shiva and Greta Thunberg, have signed a message to governments calling on them to:“enhance the concepts of Rights of Nature and Earth Trusteeship in our relationship with the earth and in our political and legal systems: This includes acknowledging earth systems as living systems, ‘ecocide’ as a crime against humanity, and the Rights of Nature as relevant and binding on governments”
This was one of a list of 8 demands including ending the fossil fuel economy, redirecting military budgets towards human security, supporting local food production and regenerative agriculture and ensuring fair representation in policy-making.
The list was premised on this concise statement:
“Planet Earth is facing existential threats from human impact on the land, sea and air – on its ecological systems and its many forms of life.
Stockholm+50 and COP 27 provide opportunities for us to make the collective changes necessary to prevent a catastrophic collapse of one or more ecological systems which could end civilisation as we know it - and to instead adopt policies to protect the future for all life.
It’s time to end the excuses for inaction and minimal stop-gap measures, and to instead make the real changes required.”
View the full statement here.
Swedish press coverage here.
UNEP interfaith statement at Stockholm+50 calls for adoption of ecocide law
In an interfaith statement addressed to the UN Stockholm+50 international meeting, nearly 200 faith leaders and representatives of world religions called this week for criminalisation of ecocide.
The statement, “Faith Values and Reach - Contribution to Environmental Policy” is convened by the UNEP Faith for Earth Initiative. It is signed by people from more than 40 countries and a dozen religions, Indigenous cultures and wisdom traditions from around the world, including Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and multiple denominations of Christianity, such as the Lutheran World Foundation.
One of 10 calls to action from governments, UN entities, civil society, as well as the signatories own constituencies is to:
“Adopt and implement an Ecocide law* and promote the Faith for Ecocide Law initiative by FBOs; (Faith Based Organisations)”. (*as it was first mentioned at the Stockholm conference in 1972 by the Swedish prime minister Olof Palme).
The Faith for Ecocide Law initiative, which the statement is calling for promotion of, was launched in September last year by End Ecocide Sweden, Stop Ecocide International, the Catholic Diocese of Stockholm and the Christian Council of Sweden. The Church of Sweden expressed support for ecocide law already towards COP26.
“There is broad interreligious support for ecocide to be recognized as a crime in the Rome Statute. This is an important step, because so far companies and states can continue with their environmental destruction with impunity”, says Andreas Holmberg, bishop of Stockholm to Dagen.
Finland: cross-party call for international crime of ecocide
A multiparty initiative has been submitted in the Parliament of Finland for criminalization of ecocide.
Mai Kivelä (MP Left Alliance) filed on 3 June, 2022, a proposal calling on the government of Finland to announce its support for the international criminalization of ecocide.
The initiative was also signed by Erkki Tuomioja (MP Social Democratic Party, Former Foreign Minister), Inka Hopsu (MP The Greens) and MPs (Left Alliance) Merja Kyllönen, Veronika Honkasalo, Pia Lohikoski and Jari Myllykoski.
The initiative proposes amending the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to add ecocide alongside the crimes already in force: genocide, war crimes, crime of aggression and crimes against humanity, stating that this modification would introduce a simple and effective legal deterrent to persons in positions of responsibility. This change can be carried out within existing systems of criminal law.
Reference is made to the activities of Stop Ecocide International which are being supported from Finland both directly and in Finnish. The law would not be retroactive, but would above all have a preventive impact.
Additional support from Finland has been forthcoming from Mr. Pertti Salolainen, who has made public his alliance with the campaign as a Supporter of Ecocide Law. Salolainen is former Deputy Prime Minister of Finland, as well as Founder and Honorary President of WWF Finland.
Ecocide on the Nordic political agenda thanks to youth movements
Thanks to the work and pressure of Nordic and Baltic youth movements, the Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers, Paula Lehtomäki, has agreed to discuss the criminalisation of ecocide at the Nordic level. “We will put the issue of ecocide on the agenda, and together discuss what we can do within this sphere” said Lehtomäki at a roundtable discussion prior to the international UN conference, Stockholm Plus 50.
The youth organisations have worked together over six months and drafted 60 recommendations, in the hope that their policy paper would be integrated in the official outcome of the UN meeting. The term ‘ecocide’ is used several times in the paper, as they urge governments to “introduce large-scale environmental destruction, ecocide, as a crime in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court - as a means to hold governments and corporations accountable for their damage to our common planet”.
Emma Kari, Minister of Environment and Climate of Finland, with Maija Kuivalainen, Youth Climate Delegate of Finland and Björn Fondén, at the Stockholm+50 conference.
Other major demands include the need to increase climate finance, to phase out of fossil fuels, and to fund a just green transition. “The most important outcome is that ecocide crimes will be discussed at the Nordic level. It was also positive that the ministers acknowledge that they don’t know everything, and that they’re prepared to listen to us.” said Björn Fondén, member of the Stockholm+50 Youth Task Force in an article on the Nordic Council’s website.
The policy paper was presented on June 1st, at a roundtable with Nordic ministers for the environment and climate: Annika Strandhäll from Sweden, Lea Wermelin from Denmark, Espen Barth Eide from Norway, Emma Kari from Finland, Alfons Röblom from Åland, and the Secretary General of Nordic Council of Ministers Paula Lehtomäki.
The Nordic Youth have already expressed their support for an international crime of ecocide in their position paper on biodiversity, published in 2021. Among the regulations needed to ensure that private actors protect nature, they list the importance to “criminalize large-scale environmental destruction by including ecocide in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.”
Pressure mounts to discuss ECOCIDE at Stockholm+50 this week
PRESS RELEASE
Pressure is mounting for government representatives from around the world to discuss recognition of a new international crime of ecocide at Stockholm+50, the UN’s international environmental meeting being hosted by Sweden and Kenya this week in the Swedish capital.
Swedish environment minister Annika Strandhäll told the press: “I expect that the issue of ecocide will be discussed at length during the meeting, as it has been raised a lot in the preparatory processes from large parts of civil society and some countries. We expect that the issue will be included in one way or another in the end result from the meeting.”
UN: Informal working groups leading up to this week’s meeting have featured the subject prominently:
Europe and North America regional consultation (6 mentions including a key recommendation)
Mentions in Latin America & Caribbean and Asia Pacific regional consultations
YOUTH: The global Youth Task Force for Stockholm+50 listed inclusion of a crime of ecocide in the Rome Statute as one of their primary policy demands in their Youth Engagement paper for the meeting.
NGO: 26 civil society organisations co-ordinated by CONCORD Sweden, including the Church of Sweden, WWF Sweden and Olof Palme International Center, called for Stockholm+50 to demonstrate radical steps towards global environmental and climate justice. One of their concrete recommendations is to support making ecocide an international crime.
SWEDEN: the government has been interrogated by press on the subject of recognising ecocide, and while the enthusiasm of response varies by political party, the government has clearly acknowledged the importance of the discussion, with Minister Strandhäll stating that it will be “following the development of the issue closely. If in the future there are conditions for establishing ecocide as an international crime, the government intends to be an active part of the discussion for this”.
STOP ECOCIDE: Stop Ecocide International and our charitable Foundation will be collaborating on a series of pre-summit events as well as attending the international meeting with a delegation team. Co-Founder & Executive Director Jojo Mehta said: “It’s very clear that the call for this law is getting louder all the time. This week’s meeting in Stockholm is simply the next step towards the inevitable. Ecocide law is a desperately needed guardrail to protect people and planet, but it’s also a legal framework to galvanise positive strategic change across all sectors. It’s on the horizon and fast approaching, because it’s absolutely required.”
Stop Ecocide International is developing cross-sector global support at all levels of government and civil society for establishing an international crime of ecocide. www.stopecocide.earth
PRESS ENQUIRIES: press@stopecocide.earth
42 NGOs back ecocide law at UN criminal justice conference
This week in Vienna at the 31st session of the UNODC’s Commission on Crime Prevention & Criminal Justice, a statement was submitted to the plenary from 42 ECOSOC (Economic & Social Council) organisations supporting the criminalisation of ecocide, among a number of recommendations. Co-drafted by the Stop Ecocide Foundation, Socialist International Women (SIW) and the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development of Vienna, the statement was submitted by SIW to the plenary session in written form and an abridged version was delivered by Jojo Mehta, Chair of the Stop Ecocide Foundation by kind invitation of the Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention & Criminal Justice of which the Foundation is a member.
Ms Mehta attended the plenary in person, as well as a breakfast reception hosted by the US State Department in support of the work of NGOs in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice, and was a guest of the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development of Vienna.
An official online side event Criminalising Ecocide: A New Deterrent to Crimes that Affect the Environment was also included in the conference programme and was extremely well attended. The event can be viewed below.
Ms Mehta said: “It is significant and timely that ecocide should be discussed at the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice conference. It is the first time in decades that a new international crime is being talked about on the global diplomatic stage, and the relevant UN agencies and programs must be informed and take an active part in the conversation.”
26 Swedish NGOs demand ecocide law at Stockholm+50
26 civil society organisations, including the Church of Sweden, WWF Sweden and Olof Palme International Center, call for the UN conference Stockholm+50 to demonstrate radical steps towards global environmental and climate justice. One of their demands is to make ecocide an international crime.
Coordinated through CONCORD Sweden’s working group for environmental and climate justice, the organisations write that the conference must result in bold and tangible outcomes that meet the urgency of the climate and biodiversity crises, while integrating principles of justice, equality, human rights and participation. To achieve this they propose nine concrete policy actions which should be part of the conference outcome.
Action number 6: Make mass damage of ecosystems an international crime: Severe, wide-
spread and long-term destruction of ecosystems is a root cause of the current
climate and environmental crises. The conference should support calls for
making such mass damage, also known as ecocide, an international crime.
On Stockholm+50:
2 and 3 June 2022, a crucial international environmental meeting will be held in Stockholm, Sweden. Anchored in the Decade of Action, under the theme “Stockholm+50: a healthy planet for the prosperity of all – our responsibility, our opportunity,” this high-level meeting will follow months of consultations and discussions with individuals, communities, organizations and governments around the world. Stockholm+50 will commemorate the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment and celebrate 50 years of global environmental action. Read more.
For more information, visit our partner End Ecocide Sweden’s website.
Stop Ecocide at EU launch of West Papua support network
At a meeting and press conference at the EU Parliament building, the International Parliamentarians for West Papua (IPWP) announced today the formation of its new EU branch, and Stop Ecocide International was invited to take part.
The meeting, ‘West Papua: Human rights, self-determination, and green state vision’, was hosted by Carles Puigdemont MEP, former President of the Government of Catalonia, and Pernando Barrena MEP of the Basque Country.
Interim West Papuan President Benny Wenda addressed the gathering, joined by Ralph Regenvanu (former Foreign Minister and current Leader of the Opposition of Vanuatu), Alex Sobel MP, and Jojo Mehta (Executive Director of Stop Ecocide International).
Demonstrations and gatherings took place across West Papua over the past two days in support of the meeting which was live-streamed.
President Carles Puigdemont said: ‘West Papua was annexed by Indonesian in 1963. Since then West Papua has been living under a regime of extreme oppression that may qualify as a genocide. We want to put pressure on the EU to acknowledge the West Papuan right to self-determination. It is a moral and historical debt Europeans have towards the people of West Papua.”
Interim President Wenda said: “We demand that the EU stop funding and supporting the continuation of ‘Special Autonomy’ and the further partition of West Papua. Indonesia has misused the EU’s funds to help its military kill my people. All EU investments in West Papua must be suspended until Indonesia allows the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights into the territory.”
Jojo Mehta spoke on the Green State Vision proposed by West Papua’s interim parliament, which sets out commitments including making ecocide a serious criminal offence; restoring guardianship of natural resources to indigenous authorities, combining Western democratic norms with local Papuan systems; and ‘serving notice’ on all extraction companies, including oil, gas, mining, logging and palm oil, requiring them to adhere to international environmental standards or cease operations.
Mehta said she was deeply inspired by “the audacity, positivity, and generosity” of the Green State Vision. “The West Papuan independence movement [has] every right to denounce the occupiers, to seek justice for the horrific violence and displacement they’ve suffered… and yet they do not sit in despair and self-pity… instead they have worked together to offer a holistic, practical vision and a genuinely green governance solution to a world that, let’s face it, desperately needs a new model.
“I believe wholeheartedly in the proverb that it’s always better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. West Papua’s candle does more than shine in the darkness - the Green State Vision is a beacon for what a future in harmony with the planet - and each other - could actually look like.”
SPAIN: ecological transition committee of parliament votes a motion to recognise ecocide as an international crime
On Wednesday 11th May The Ecological Transition Committee of the Spanish Congress of Deputies passed a motion (Proposición No de Ley, PNL) urging the government to promote the recognition of ecocide as an international crime, and also to consider including ecocide in the Penal Code.
In December 2020, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Congress also passed a motion along the same lines. On this occasion, the proposal was put forward by the Parliamentary Group of Unidas Podemos-En Comú Podem-Galicia en Común, and passed with 19 votes in favour, 5 against and 12 abstentions.
The President of the Committee, Juan López de Uralde (pictured), who defended the motion, said in his speech that “we have suffered enormous environmental aggressions in Spain that have gone unpunished". He also pointed out the need to recognise ecocide as a global crime, as we are "very used to" environmental crimes going unpunished.
In the Explanatory Memorandum to the motion, it is stated that:
"The aim is to make ecocide the fifth serious crime and to bring it under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. Serious crimes against the environment would be in the same category as war crimes or crimes against humanity and they can be prosecuted in the International Criminal Court in The Hague (ICC)".
The motion, based in part on the narrative of the international Stop Ecocide campaign, also takes up the legal definition of Ecocide, drafted by an Independent Expert Panel convened by the Stop Ecocide Foundation made, and it notes that:
"...a new technique is needed for the creation of crimes against the environment that really guarantee the protection of the protected subject and the punishment of whoever damages it, whether intentionally or culpably".
During the debate generated among the parliamentary groups, several ideas have been put forward such as the need for the crime of ecocide to be global in order to avoid displacement of environmental damage to zones or areas with more permissive environmental regulation.
The motion states:
"Congress urges the Government to study a policy of promoting the amendment of the Rome Statute as a way to include the recognition of ecocide as an international crime, as well as to assess the implementation of procedural and criminal reforms consistent with this objective in our domestic law."
Cyprus: Ecocide raised in House of Representatives (complete with T-shirt)
On the 5th of May, 2022, Ms. Alexandra Attalides a member of the House of Representatives from the Movement of Ecologists- Citizens Cooperation (the Cypriot Green party) during her speech in the House of Representatives read her position on the subject of the implementation of the European Green Deal wearing a t-shirt from Stop Ecocide. At the end of her speech she declared that “Ecocide is a crime” declaring it should be regarded as such and that “we need to change our direction” (referring to humanity’s current behaviour towards the natural environment).
Ms. Attalides, a member of the global “Ecocide Alliance” of parliamentarians, spontaneously adapted her prepared speech, having received her t-shirt that afternoon. Her bold move was supported by the Cyprus Stop Ecocide team joining her in their own t-shirts.
This was not the first time that Ecocide was mentioned as a crime within the Cypriot Parliament. Mr. Charalampos Theopemptou (on his 2nd term in parliament and President of the green party) was the first parliamentarian to raise it through the process of parliamentary questions on the 11th of September, 2020.
Mr. Theopemptou requested the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment to inform the House of Representatives on the governmental position on a Law of Ecocide. The answer showed that the government of the Republic of Cyprus is aware of the conversation around Ecocide Law, and was supportive of the initiative at the international level.
The two parliamentarians will continue to follow up the subject.
Navarra votes on ecocide: Spanish region in favour of a new international crime
On Thursday 28th April the Navarran Foral Parliament resolved to:
"(...) study a policy of promoting the amendment of the Rome Statute, in agreement with the other European partners, as a way of including the recognition of ecocide as an international crime, as well as to assess the implementation of procedural and criminal reforms consistent with this objective in our domestic law."
The motion was proposed by Ainhoa Aznárez Igarza, member of the Foral Parliamentary Group Podemos-Ahal Dugu, and passed with only one small amendment.
The accompanying Explanatory Memorandum mentions the 1972 Stockholm Conference, the 1987 Montreal Protocol, the 1987 Brundtland Commission, the 1992 Rio Conference, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and the European Directive 2008/99/EC (on environmental protection through criminal law) as examples of the growing global concern in terms of international environmental law and the need to protect the environment.
Furthermore, it points out that these types of crimes, despite being described and subject to increasingly dissuasive penalties, have a high rate of impunity, and their investigation and prosecution are very complex. Therefore, the motion states: "A new technique is needed for the construction of crimes against the environment that really guarantees the protection of the protected subject and the punishment of those who damage it, whether intentionally or negligently."
The initiative is fully aligned with the Stop Ecocide campaign as it seeks to have ecocide recognized as the fifth Crime against World Peace and Security under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court alongside genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The motion also takes up the legal definition of ecocide provided by the Independent Expert Panel convened by the Stop Ecocide Foundation, according to which ecocide "unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts".
Danish Parliament discusses ecocide
The subject of ecocide was debated in the Danish parliament today. The debate followed a question submitted by Susanne Zimmer from the green party (Frie Grønne), to the Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod (Social Democrats).
While the concept of ecocide was new to many, the spokespeople for all parties, without exception, condemned the destruction of nature and climate.
The discussion lasted over an hour and concluded with the government proposing a decision text for the parliament (see 15:22 Annette Lind), declaring that destruction of ecosystems and nature is very serious; that Denmark should follow the ecocide conversation internationally and engage in discussion with colleagues from other countries. This decision was supported by a large majority (85%).
The resolution roughly translates as follows:
The Danish Parliament expresses continued support to the ICC and its work to end impunity for the most serious international crimes.
The Danish Parliament emphasizes that Denmark contributes to the increase of global ambitions for climate, environment, and nature.
The Danish Parliament furthermore recognizes the need for thinking out of the box in relation to protection of the environment and encourages the government to participate in discussions in relevant international forums about criminalizing ecocide.
The Danish Parliament finds that it is crucial for the trust in institutions of international law that acts characterized as international crimes can be sanctioned effectively and lead to sentencing.
Finally, the Danish Parliament recognizes that the ICC has limited capacity and already has a substantial task investigating and prosecuting war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide that are already criminalized in the Rome Statute.
We’re really excited to see that Denmark has resolved to engage in the growing global conversation on criminalising ecocide.
EU Economic & Social Committee: “Recognition of ecocide as an international crime is crucial”
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has publicly declared that “recognition of ecocide as an international crime is crucial for tackling environmental offences.”
The Committee also believes ecocide should be addressed directly in the substance of the revised EU Directive on improving protection of the environment through criminal law.
A text for a revised Directive aiming to strengthen the EU’s response to environmental crime was proposed at the end of last year by the European Commission to replace Directive 2008/99/EC (ECD). The proposal mentioned ecocide but did not include recognition of it as a criminal offence.
The EESC has assessed the proposal and commented on it (23rd March 2022). Notably, the Committee stated in its response that it “welcomes the reference to 'ecocide' in the recitals. However, the EESC believes that it would be appropriate to include this term in the operational part of the Directive.”
Spain: legal rights for Mar Menor ecosystem in European first
The Spanish Congress of Deputies has voted, by overwhelming majority (only one party voting against), to give the green light to a Popular Legislative Initiative assigning legal status to the Mar Menor, Europe’s largest saltwater lagoon. This vote triggers the process to pass a law granting the lagoon its own rights, making it the first European ecosystem to be protected in this way.
Campaigners describe it as a “milestone in the relationship between human beings and nature”, shifting the Mar’s status from an object in the service of humans to a “legal person” just as individuals and companies are. Significantly, Teresa Vicente, a university professor and spokesperson for the initiative, will shortly be travelling to New York to present the PLI to the United Nations General Assembly. The proposal was driven by a grassroots mobilisation of thousands, forcing parliamentarians to take action addressing the ongoing “ecocide” suffered by this unique ecosystem.
The final stage of the legislative process will take place in the Parliament's Ecological Transition Committee, where amendments to the text can be made (not undermining the spirit of the initial proposal) and it will be passed by “urgent procedure”.
This legislative move could pave the way towards a complementary protective criminal law i.e. a crime of ecocide.
To read more about Mar Menor, visit our guest blog.