Finland: cross-party call for international crime of ecocide

A multiparty initiative has been submitted in the Parliament of Finland for criminalization of ecocide.    

Mai Kivelä (MP Left Alliance) filed on 3 June, 2022, a proposal calling on the government of Finland to announce its support for the international criminalization of ecocide. 

The initiative was also signed by Erkki Tuomioja (MP Social Democratic Party, Former Foreign Minister), Inka Hopsu (MP The Greens) and MPs (Left Alliance) Merja Kyllönen, Veronika Honkasalo, Pia Lohikoski and Jari Myllykoski. 

The initiative proposes amending the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to add ecocide alongside the crimes already in force: genocide, war crimes, crime of aggression and crimes against humanity, stating that this modification would introduce a simple and effective legal deterrent to persons in positions of responsibility. This change can be carried out within existing systems of criminal law.

Reference is made to the activities of Stop Ecocide International which are being supported from Finland both directly and in Finnish. The law would not be retroactive, but would above all have a preventive impact.

Additional support from Finland has been forthcoming from Mr. Pertti Salolainen, who has made public his alliance with the campaign as a Supporter of Ecocide Law.  Salolainen is former Deputy Prime Minister of Finland, as well as Founder and Honorary President of WWF Finland.