The term ecocide was coined in 1970 at the ‘Conference on War and National Responsibility’ in Washington, DC by American biologist Arthur Galston to describe “massive damage and destruction of ecosystems”. Throughout the 1970s, political leaders, scholars and academics used the term to denounce international environmental crimes. In 1978 the idea emerged to include ecocide as “an international crime (which) may result, inter alia, from: a serious breach of an international obligation of essential importance for the safeguarding and preservation of the human environment, such as those prohibiting massive pollution of the atmosphere or of the seas.”
Since then various scholars and lawyers have attempted to insert ecocide as an international crime to no avail, but in 2010 Polly Higgins formally proposed an ecocide law to the United Nations, reopening a much needed conversation. Today’s official definition of ecocide is: “a crime against the Earth itself, not just against humans. It covers the direct damage caused to the Earth’s land, sea and river systems, the flora and fauna within the affected ecosystems, as well the resultant impact on the climate.”
The ecocide project by the Human Rights Consortium, University of London, England is a research paper that aims to provide a foundation of understanding regarding ecocide as well as its legal framework, supporting the push for ecocide to become the fifth international crime against peace in the International Criminal Court.
Why is it necessary? Because several “soft laws”, such as the Paris Agreement, are voluntary and cannot be enforced; many national laws fail to regulate environmental damage; and international corporations often take advantage of weak environmental laws in developing nations, getting away with the damage their actions cause because there is no international law impeding them from doing so.
An international crime of ecocide can be created by amending the 1998 Rome Statute, which created the International Criminal Court. Currently the Rome Statute has four International Crimes.
The Rome Statute can be amended if the head of one signatory proposes the inclusion of ecocide as a crime. Any member state can amend the proposal and if the amendment is accepted by two thirds majority it can be included as a statute. States then ratify the amendment and it comes into force a year after ratification is submitted.
If ecocide were an international crime it would be legally enforceable, unlike international treaties and agreements. It would make senior executives of polluting companies personally criminally responsible.
If ecocide were an international crime, government ministers wouldn’t give permits to environmentally damaging projects, banks would think twice before investing in environmentally damaging projects and the global polluting infrastructure would crumble.
If you want to know more, join stop ecocide, watch Polly Higgins’ TED talk, and read up on ecocide law.
Isabella Cavalletti is a storyteller and co-founded eco-nnect.
