New Race to Zero Report acknowledges ecocide law as key driver for climate action
Ecocide law has been acknowledged as a key driver for business action towards net zero in a high level report delivered at the United Nations during UN General Assembly high-level week in New York. The launch took place at the Climate Action: Race to Zero and Race to Resilience Forum where COP26 and COP27 Climate Champions, where Nigel Topping and Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin respectively, urged leaders across business, finance, political and civil society to deliver on the climate commitments that have been made.
The forum focussed on closing the ’implementation gap’ by making sure that voluntary commitments translated into action and progress through standards and regulation.
The Pivot Point, a report co-authored by over 40 expert organisations, was launched on 21st September and contains a chapter on “the drivers and influencers of change”, dedicating a substantial section to ecocide law (Page 58). Section author Sophie Dembinski, Head of Policy for Ecosia, wrote:
“Beyond providing a much needed international legal and regulatory framework for businesses to keep pace with ambitious climate and biodiversity targets, adopting such a law would also encourage a vital shift of consciousness and unlock new opportunities with regards to how business engages with the natural living world in the long-term.”
The report gave an overview of the current voluntary client leadership activity as well as emerging standards and regulations and set out measures needed to get business on track to net zero, including aligning incentives, rewarding investment, correcting market failures, creating level playing fields and resolving confusion. It also made a call to action for all non-state actors to step up and join the Race to Zero.
As familiarity with the concept of ecocide grows, more and more businesses are seeing the potential benefits of a preventive legal guardrail, and joining calls to criminalise acts threatening the most serious environmental damage.
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