“Ecocide should be prosecuted in times of peace as well as conflict” - Michael Mansfield KC
This guest blog is part of a series intended as a dedicated space for the many global movements/campaigns around the globe confronting ecosystem destruction to share their stories, narratives and perspectives.
This blog was written by Michael Mansfield KC, English barrister and head of Nexus Chambers.
“Companies cannot be given a license to spill and kill, provided they clear up the mess”.
These were my closing remarks when I led the prosecution in the world’s first mock ecocide trial in 2011. The trial focused on a fictional corporate oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, mirroring the Deepwater Horizon disaster of the previous year.
I have spent my life fighting injustice and am proud to say that I have used the law throughout my career to help those in need. However, the law, in its current state, is simply not fit for purpose when it comes to global environmental protection.
In the years since our mock trial, the movement to criminalise ecocide has been on a remarkable journey. Last month, I responded to an International Criminal Court (ICC) public consultation along with a host of others, including Laura Mary Clarke OBE, (CEO, ClientEarth) and Sandrine Dixson-Declève (Co-President, Club of Rome), advocating for the introduction of a new international crime of ecocide into the Rome Statute.
There's no doubt: ecocide is a human rights issue, one that warrants prosecution in times of peace as well as conflict. At present, the only explicit protection for the environment offered by the ICC applies to acts committed during wartime. Without a standalone international legal safeguard in place to protect nature, human safety, security, and livelihoods will be forever under threat.
A connection not lost on the island nation of Vanuatu, which in 2019 became the first sovereign nation to call for recognition of ecocide at the ICC. Vanuatu, a prime example of how the ecological and climate crisis disproportionately burdens those least responsible, finds itself confronting rising sea levels that threaten coastal infrastructure and, harrowingly, are salinating under-island freshwater supplies, leading to food and water insecurity.
However, the tide is turning in favour of ecocide law, and with deeply unfortunate events such as the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine, the concept of ecocide is garnering significant global attention.
In the last year, a growing list of states have taken concrete steps towards establishing new domestic crimes of ecocide, including the Netherlands, Mexico, Spain and Scotland.
The most significant political development in ecocide legislation happened this February, with the European Council adopting a revised Environmental Crimes Directive, including provisions to criminalise cases ‘comparable to ecocide’. In March, Belgium’s Federal Parliament voted to recognise the crime.
We are right up against the environmental limits that allow life on this beautiful planet to thrive. Now is the time for the ICC to rise to this challenge and finally introduce a new standalone crime of ecocide.
Michael Mansfield KC is a human rights Barrister responsible for prosecuting high profile cases including The Birmingham Six, The Guildford Four and The Mangrove Nine.