Pacific progress
Above are two of our core legal team, Senior Researcher Nabil Ahmed (left in the pic) and Head of Advocacy & Strategic Partnerships Shirleen Chin (right) at a diplomatic dinner in Port Vila, Vanuatu - Pacific style! - last week.
They were featured speakers at a Pacific Round Table involving civil and academic experts alongside parliamentarians from Vanuatu, Tuvalu, Kiribas, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Samoa and Fiji. Also attending were representatives from the international Criminal Court. The meeting was organised by Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) and you can see more detail HERE.
Discussing membership of the ICC, implementation of the Rome Statute and its relevance for the region, this was the perfect forum for our non-profit Ecological Defence Integrity to speak on ecocide law.
Important connections were cemented during the visit and next steps discussed with key officials. Below: Shirleen and Nabil with Vanuatan Ambassador John Licht and Vanuatan Foreign Minister Ralph Regenvanu, keynote speaker at the Round Table on the existential threat posed to the region by climate breakdown and the particular relevance of international environmental law.
Be an Ambassador too!
You too can be an Ambassador - for the campaign. If you're heading to a festival this summer and would like to hand out flyers, give a short talk or run a stall, or simply be a walking billboard like this lovely woman, please get in touch with Jo Khimba at jgk@stopecocide.earth. Or you may want to run a video evening in your living room or at a local venue - let us know!
Government petitions
We believe the first countries to step up and propose Ecocide as a fifth crime in the Rome Statute will be those, like Vanuatu, with the strongest incentive. However it is also vitally important that the idea is made visible across the world.
We've therefore just begun encouraging Earth Protectors across the globe to register national petitions with their own governments, using those governments' official software. Our UK petition is currently in moderation stage but will be live soon. If you would like to start one in your own country please feel free to translate this text (NB we recommend you checking with a professional translator before initialising your government petition). Once your petition is live please let us know so that we can link to it!
New! social media ID
Last but not least, you can now declare yourself an Earth Protector on social media by using a FRAME (Facebook - search Stop Ecocide) or a TWIBBON (Twitter or Facebook). You can also find Facebook and Twitter header pics to download from THIS PAGE of the website.
Thank you all for taking action towards justice & a legal duty of care for people & planet.
*** Polly's Team ***