In-person panel event In Montréal, Canada.
(A recording will be made available and shared after the event)
Venue: Hôtel ZERO 1, 1 René-Lévesque Est, Montréal, QC H2X 3Z5
Time: 15:00 - 16.30 (Local time Montréal)
Co-hosts: Republic of Vanuatu, Stop Ecocide Foundation, Stop Ecocide International, Flourishing Diversity, Synchronicity Earth, Amazon Sacred Headwaters
Despite pledges and commitments, it is proving an uphill struggle to reach global biodiversity targets and to genuinely protect the planet’s vital ecosystems and keystone species. Meanwhile indigenous and local communities who steward the Earth’s most biodiverse regions and stand up to protect the living world are frequently persecuted.
Recognizing “ecocide” - severe and either widespread or long-term harm to nature - as a crime at the international level could provide a protective and preventive legal guardrail that is currently missing. It would set an outer boundary to deter and sanction the worst threats and harms to the environment, while reframing and supporting the guardianship of nature.
This event explores the contexts that call for and could be addressed by such a law, as well as the growing global momentum towards putting it in place.
Diplomatic intervention from:
HON Ralph Regenvanu
Minister of Climate Change Adaptation, Meteorology and Geo-Hazards, Energy, Environment and Disaster Risk Management, Republic of Vanuatu.
Speakers:
Chair, Stop Ecocide Foundation, Convenor of the Expert panel for the legal definition of ecocide.
Jojo Mehta co-founded Stop Ecocide in 2017, alongside legal pioneer the late Polly Higgins, to support making severe harm to nature an international crime.
As key spokesperson and Executive Director of Stop Ecocide International, Jojo has overseen the remarkable growth of the global movement while coordinating legal developments, diplomatic traction and public narrative. She is also Chair of the charitable Stop Ecocide Foundation and convenor of the Independent Expert Panel for the Legal Definition of Ecocide chaired by Philippe Sands QC and Dior Fall Sow.
Indigenous Territories Coordinator for Amazon Sacred Headwaters Initiative.
Director of Global Strategy for Amazon Sacred Headwaters Initiative, Founder & President of the Board, Amazon Watch.
Executive Director and Co-Founder of Global Choices
Co-Lead Youth for Ecocide Law, Founder Stop Ecocide Toronto
Founder, Planete Amazone. Representative, Alliance of Mother Natures Guardians
Moderator:
Co-Founder Synchronicity Earth & Flourishing Diversity. IUCN Patron of Nature