This page is a repost from the Eradicating Ecocide website.

Definition

Ecocide is the extensive damage to, destruction of or loss of ecosystem(s) of a given territory, whether by human agency or by other causes, to such an extent that peaceful enjoyment by the inhabitants of that territory has been or will be severely diminished.

proposed amendment to the Rome Statute, by Polly Higgins, April 2010

The Problem: Ecocide

Ecocide, the extensive destruction of ecosystems, is occurring today. For example:

• Large-scale land use change that causes the direct destruction of habitats – as is the case with deforestation in most tropical rainforests;
• Significant pollution whether deliberate or incidental – such as oil dumping and spills;
• Open cast mining where entire landscapes are removed – as is the case with oil sands and some coal and gold mining;

There is wide scientific agreement that the scale of these changes is not sustainable and that continued interference with the Earth system will have significant consequences. Humanity has stepped out of what has been called a ‘safe operating space’ and has exceeded at least three defined planetary boundaries.

The United Nation’s Global Environmental Outlook 5 Report 2012 (GEO-5) summarises the anthropogenic impacts on the Earth System, reiterating that they are unprecedented in human history. We know that we cannot continue to impact ecosystems with impunity forever and for there to be no consequences. The only question that is worth asking is what we will do about it.

If you are facing Ecocide our Strategic Partners, the International Senior Lawyers Project UKmay be able to provide you with free advice. Contact the ISLP UK.

The solution: The law of Ecocide

Change on the scale that is necessary to address these immense, globally significant issues will not simply happen spontaneously. Nor will it occur if we rely on weak international agreements or voluntary action alone. What is needed is a change that addresses the core problem. The issue is that the existence of major environmental externalities means that it is more profitable for companies to cause Ecocide than to invest in renewable solutions. However, it does not have to be this way.

In 2010 international barrister and award winning author Polly Higgins proposed to the UN that Ecocide be implemented as the fifth Crime Against Peace.

Ecocide is the extensive damage to, destruction of or loss of ecosystem(s) of a given territory, whether by human agency or by other causes, to such an extent that peaceful enjoyment by the inhabitants of that territory has been or will be severely diminished.

Polly and her legal team are dedicated to ending this era of Ecocide. The law that they advocate will create a new framework within which business and the global economy can operate in harmony with the Earth’s ecosystems, using them as renewable resources that will last forever, rather than commodities to be exploited just once. Progressive business leaders are calling governments to create such a strong legal framework so that they can put in place truly sustainable strategies. Thus the Law of Ecocide has the potential to trigger the transformation to the Green Economy.

The law of Ecocide is part of an emerging body of law called Earth Law; law which puts people and planet first.

Read about

• FAQs on Law of Ecocide
• the full Ecocide Act and Sentencing Guidelines
• the strategy to make Ecocide the fifth Crime Against Peace
• Ecocide and business
• Ecocide and human rights
• Ecocide and peace

History of the Law of Ecocide

The concept of Ecocide has been around since the 1970s. Making Ecocide a Crime Against Peace was examined within the UN for decades throughout the 1970s – 1990s. It was shelved last minute in 1996 without being put to the vote and despite a number of countries objecting to its exclusion. Ecocide really is the missing 5th Crime Against Peace. Learn more.

However, there are ten countries who believe that Ecocide is a crime and implemented laws in their own countries to prevent it.

Ecocide in wartime

Ecocide is already an international crime during wartime. According to 8.2.b (iv) of the Rome Statute it is a crime to “intentionally launch an attack in the knowledge that such attack will cause…widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment…”

During peacetime no such crime exists. We are trying to close that legal loophole.

Implementing the Law of Ecocide

The Rome Statute already sets out four Crimes Against Peace and the International Criminal Court to enforce them. Legal definitions of what Ecocide is exist and a mock trial has demonstrated that that this is a law which can work.

To create an international law of Ecocide it only takes one state party to call for an amendment to the Rome Statute and then 80 States to agree. State parties are countries who have signed and ratified the Rome Statute, there are currently 121 State Parties.

Once an amendment to the Rome Statute has been agreed to include Ecocide, there will be a transition period of 5 years. This will allow for subsidies to be redirected from dangerous industrial activity which is causing Ecocide, to clean and green business. This will ensure the economy doesn’t collapse and turns businesses which are currently the problem, into the solution and leaders for change.

There are countless examples of Ecocide happening around the world from the Athabasca Tar Sands to extensive logging of the Amazon. Click to learn more.

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