Pressure mounts to discuss ECOCIDE at Stockholm+50 this week
PRESS RELEASE
Pressure is mounting for government representatives from around the world to discuss recognition of a new international crime of ecocide at Stockholm+50, the UN’s international environmental meeting being hosted by Sweden and Kenya this week in the Swedish capital.
Swedish environment minister Annika Strandhäll told the press: “I expect that the issue of ecocide will be discussed at length during the meeting, as it has been raised a lot in the preparatory processes from large parts of civil society and some countries. We expect that the issue will be included in one way or another in the end result from the meeting.”
UN: Informal working groups leading up to this week’s meeting have featured the subject prominently:
Europe and North America regional consultation (6 mentions including a key recommendation)
Mentions in Latin America & Caribbean and Asia Pacific regional consultations
YOUTH: The global Youth Task Force for Stockholm+50 listed inclusion of a crime of ecocide in the Rome Statute as one of their primary policy demands in their Youth Engagement paper for the meeting.
NGO: 26 civil society organisations co-ordinated by CONCORD Sweden, including the Church of Sweden, WWF Sweden and Olof Palme International Center, called for Stockholm+50 to demonstrate radical steps towards global environmental and climate justice. One of their concrete recommendations is to support making ecocide an international crime.
SWEDEN: the government has been interrogated by press on the subject of recognising ecocide, and while the enthusiasm of response varies by political party, the government has clearly acknowledged the importance of the discussion, with Minister Strandhäll stating that it will be “following the development of the issue closely. If in the future there are conditions for establishing ecocide as an international crime, the government intends to be an active part of the discussion for this”.
STOP ECOCIDE: Stop Ecocide International and our charitable Foundation will be collaborating on a series of pre-summit events as well as attending the international meeting with a delegation team. Co-Founder & Executive Director Jojo Mehta said: “It’s very clear that the call for this law is getting louder all the time. This week’s meeting in Stockholm is simply the next step towards the inevitable. Ecocide law is a desperately needed guardrail to protect people and planet, but it’s also a legal framework to galvanise positive strategic change across all sectors. It’s on the horizon and fast approaching, because it’s absolutely required.”
Stop Ecocide International is developing cross-sector global support at all levels of government and civil society for establishing an international crime of ecocide. www.stopecocide.earth
PRESS ENQUIRIES: press@stopecocide.earth