Ecocide law: a deterrent for ocean plastics
This series of guest blog posts is intended as a dedicated space for the many movements/campaigns around the globe confronting ecosystem destruction to share their stories, narratives and perspectives.
This guest blog was co-written by Antoinette Vermilye, the Co-Founder of the marine conservation organisation the Gallifrey Foundation.
Moments of animal suffering - a whale mother grieving her dead calf in Blue Planet II, the agonising deaths of albatross chicks ingesting small plastics in Chris Jordan’s Albatross - have brought the impact of plastics in the ocean to the centre stage. However, many people are unsure about how to bring about real change for such an overwhelming problem.
At the Gallifrey Foundation, we believe that ecocide law can make a real difference. Although the connection is not immediately clear to people, plastics and ecocide law are intimately linked. Indeed, the buildup of plastics and associated chemicals in our ocean connects to ecocide law in myriad ways. This opens up opportunities for accountability and for a potential respite from the onslaught of plastic pollution. Here, I explain the ecocidal impacts of marine plastics, which also extend beyond the ocean to life on land and tragically to human health too, and I set out the ways in which an international crime of ecocide could prevent the proliferation of marine plastics.
‘Continuous microdrip exposure’
Most people don’t know that plastics require the addition of plasticisers and chemical additives. These chemicals have been revealed to have long-term, negative effects on humans and the environment. This is because these plastic chemicals imitate our hormones, hormones which are crucial, for example, switching on at very specific key developmental stages in human life – pregnancy, puberty, and menopause. Continuous micro-drip exposure via ingestion, inhalation, and touch is disrupting that finely calibrated system.
While this is concerning for humans, we are witnessing similar effects from plastics and endocrine disrupting chemicals on the developmental, reproductive, neurological, and immune health of creatures worldwide. Thus, a silent ecocide, which has been taking place over decades, is affecting reproductivity in both marine and non-marine organisms gradually, unpicking a finely designed web of ecosystem services that support our biosphere and lives.
Downstream impacts of plastic
The ocean ecosystem is delicate and finely calibrated, and it is being disrupted as plastics both absorb and release chemicals and harmful toxins. As plastics break up into smaller and smaller pieces, they release cocktails of toxic compounds into the water. Plastics are also an attractant as they tend to positively ‘host’ or adsorb persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic substances. These include heavy metals, e-coli and chemicals such as dioxins and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), all of which tend to not dissolve in water, last for decades and, as they tend to concentrate near the surface of the ocean, easily attach to plastic.
From large pieces of plastics to the plastic snow that has infected the water columns from top to seabed, it is impossible for marine creatures not to ‘breathe’ in plastics and their toxic companions. Virtually all ecosystems and inhabitants have been affected by, and are suffering the effects of, plastic.
With a garbage truck of plastic entering the ocean each minute and less than 9% of plastic ever recycled, we are constantly adding even more toxic plastic to the ocean. This is affecting the most abundant of creatures – marine plankton – which act as the planet’s lungs, producing 50 per cent of the planet’s oxygen. The marine life that relies on it for sustenance, will also be lost, and in turn a significant portion of the food supply for people across the world.
How ecocide law would protect our ocean
Alongside current negotiations for the Global Plastics Treaty, there is also global momentum building around securing an international crime of ecocide under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. The benefits that the criminalisation of ecocide could present for the problem of ocean plastic pollution demonstrate why it is gaining such traction.
Crucially, ecocide law would fundamentally shift the current decision-making process surrounding major plastic production. This is because corporate directors, who are often shielded from accountability by the limited liability of corporations, would be at risk of serving jail terms due to the criminal nature of ecocide law. They would therefore be incentivised to avoid making decisions that cause severe plastic pollution.
Additionally, ecocide law would serve as a powerful deterrent against policymakers who permit severe plastic pollution facilitated by lax regulations or inadequate enforcement. Relatedly, criminalising ecocide would enhance a potential Global Plastics Treaty. Although multilateral environmental agreements are essential, without the inclusion of criminal penalties for decision makers, they fall short in ensuring full accountability and prevention.
It is also important to consider how ecocide law would engender a more fundamental shift in the business sector. By introducing criminal liability for environmental harm, ecocide law would reward sustainable businesses and sustainable practices and therefore incentivise other businesses to switch to better practices, rather than engaging in a race to the bottom. The proliferation of sustainable business would undoubtedly lead to greater respect for our ocean in general, as well as ushering in a reduction in polluting practices, including unchecked plastic production.
Moreover, an international law of ecocide would strengthen and help to close the accountability gap left by national environmental regulation, which does not have jurisdiction over the High Seas and is compromised by the porousness of sea boundaries. As a world court, the International Criminal Court is the natural home for a law that would safeguard our ocean.
Conclusion
The Gallifrey Foundation has joined the growing list of organisations calling for ecocide to be added to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court as a fifth, standalone crime alongside major crimes like genocide. It is also championing the Ocean for Ecocide Law Network, a group of organisations and individuals who believe that ecocide law is a vital tool in the protection of marine life.
The Gallifrey Foundation is striving for the conservation of our ocean and its fragile ecosystems, but it recognises that without a robust system of legal accountability, work will focus on cleanup rather than prevention. Gallifrey believes that ecocide law can bring about fundamental change by deterring decisionmakers from producing vast quantities of plastic and by rebalancing the scales in favour of sustainable business practices, promoting the use of sustainable materials.
Please join the call for an international crime of ecocide by adding your name to our Ocean for Ecocide Law Network today.