SPAIN: Making ecocide a crime in the Penal Code among recommendations of Citizens’ Climate Assembly

The first Citizens' Climate Assembly in Spain, made up of 100 citizens, has made recommendations to the national government, framed around 58 objectives. The recommendations have been organized into five areas: consumption; food and land use; communities, health and care; working society and ecosystems. The final report is public and is available on the website of the Citizens' Climate Assembly.

Among the main recommendations to the Executive is the need to create a crime of 'ecocide' in the Spanish legal framework. This recommendation received 100% support:

“Recommendation no. 147: Make ecocide a crime in cases of massive damage and destruction of the ecosystem in the Spanish legal framework”: 

Ecocide, broadly, is the massive damage and destruction of ecosystems, i.e. serious damage to nature which is widespread and sustained over time. The criminalisation of this offence should be understood as a deterrent so that these crimes are not committed because they must be prevented; otherwise the damage is very serious and possibly irreparable.

This citizen’s forum, run on participatory and deliberative lines to encourage collective reflection and knowledge, has generated consensus on how to tackle the major transformations needed to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 and to make the country more resilient to the impacts of climate change. 

The report, containing 172 recommendations, was delivered to the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez,on Monday 6 June. The third vice-president and Minister for Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO), Teresa Ribera, was also at the event. This report will be presented to the Plenary of the Congress of Deputies, to facilitate discussions and decision-making on climate change policy at all levels of government and among other actors in the economy and society.

Among the measures included in the report are: the adoption of a National Strategic Ecosystem Restoration Plan; maintenance and restoration of rivers and aquatic ecosystems; the training of judges and members of the judiciary on legal responses to climate change and environmental protection; and the reduction of soil pollution and decontamination of polluted soils.