Press conference at IUCN challenging rejection of stop ecocide motion
Stop Ecocide International (SEI) calls press conference at IUCN World Congress following unprecedented use of IUCN rule to challenge it's rejection of SEI motion
Stop Ecocide International (SEI) calls press conference at IUCN World Congress following unprecedented use of IUCN rule to challenge it's rejection of SEI motion
Stop Ecocide International today held a press conference at the IUCN World Congress, having made unprecedented use of a IUCN rule to challenge rejection of a motion supporting an international crime of ecocide.
The motion, led by Stop Ecocide International, urged the IUCN Assembly to encourage member states which are parties to the Rome Statute to consider the new legal definition of ecocide and treat it as a springboard for serious discussion on amending the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
The establishment of a crime of ecocide would support everything the IUCN does and stands for. Yet, the IUCN stated that the motion was neither new, nor urgent, thus missing a historic opportunity to place themselves on the right side of history, and to stand for the strong protection of ecosystems in law, in solidarity with future generations of all species.
Stop Ecocide International is now calling publicly on all IUCN member organisations to keep a close eye on the progress of advancing an international crime of ecocide. We know the conversation is only going to get louder.
Watch press conference highlights:
** Co-sponsors supporting this appeal ***
Born Free Foundation (Mark Jones) - UK
Both Ends (Natalie van Haren) - The Netherlands
Center for Biological Diversity (Tanya Sanerib) - USA
Center for Environmental Legal Studies, PACE University (Smita Narula) - USA
Environmental Law Program at the William S. Richardson School of Law (David Forman) - USA
ERuDeF (Louis Nkembi) - Cameroon
Gallifrey Foundation (Antoinette Vermilye) - Switzerland
Natural Resources Defense Council (Paul Todd) - USA
Synchronicity Earth (Jessica Sweidan) - UK
Sylvia Earle Alliance / DBA Mission Blue (Deb Castellana) - USA
Vereniging Milieudefensie / Friends of the Earth Netherlands (Donald Pols) - Netherlands
Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust (Raheela Ahmed) - Malawi
French citizens’ assembly votes to make ecocide a crime
French citizens’ assembly votes to make ecocide a crime
Over 99% in favour of ecocide crime, 63% for a national referendum on it.
Pictured above: Jojo Mehta, co-founder Stop Ecocide, Valérie Cabanes, international law expert (human rights), Élisabeth Borne, French Minister for Ecological Transition
Following the “gilets jaunes” crisis last year, President Macron convened a “citizen’s climate assembly” – the Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat (CCC) of 150 randomly selected French citizens – and gave them a mandate to discuss and propose policies for addressing the climate crisis.
The CCC has just voted on its final proposals. Foremost among these is a crime of ecocide, intended to remove the impunity of big polluters acting in full knowledge of the risks to ecosystems. The crime is defined using the concept of “planetary boundaries”, developed by the Stockholm Resilience Institute and influential in the drafting of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The framework lists nine connected “planetary boundaries” (eg CO2 levels, ocean acidification, biosphere integrity) beyond which we cannot go without risking irreversible damage to the Earth’s ability to sustain human life.
Valérie Cabanes, lawyer, activist and established voice for ecocide law in France and beyond, presented to the CCC in January the law proposal for which she had previously been lobbying. Inspired by the work of late British lawyer Polly Higgins, Cabanes has dedicated many years to legally enshrining the protection of nature. She is thrilled:
“The approval of the Citizen's Climate Convention reflects and speaks for a French population ready to adopt a law that respects the Earth’s ecosystems. The CCC also proposed that this law be decided via referendum, to avoid censure by parliament - letting the French population choose their own destiny: living in harmony with nature and protecting future generations - or not. It’s a symbolic and powerful step. Now we wait for our leaders to listen - and act in accordance with the proposals.”
Jojo Mehta, co-founder with Higgins’ of the Stop Ecocide campaign, works closely with Cabanes and others around the world to progress a crime of ecocide at the International Criminal Court. She said today:
“The news from France is phenomenal. It clearly demonstrates that citizens feel the urgent need for an enforceable deterrent to prevent ecosystem destruction. We trust the French government will respond positively and step up at the national level – even take the opportunity to lead at the international level, where Macron has already stated he believes this crime belongs (*20h04 in the timeline). The ball is already rolling… climate-vulnerable states we have been working with have called for ecocide crime to be considered at the International Criminal Court in the Hague. This vote is a huge pointer for France to move in the right direction, and will undoubtedly inspire other countries.”
Elisabeth Borne, the French Minister for Ecological Transition, has said she is in favour of the proposal and will meet with the citizens’ assembly tomorrow Monday 22nd. President Macron is due to meet with them a week later on the 29th.
Pictured above:
Valérie Cabanes, international law expert (human rights)
Élisabeth Borne, French Minister for Ecological Transition
Jojo Mehta, co-founder Stop Ecocide
Stop Ecocide proposes “concrete solution” to climate & ecological emergency at the International Rebellion
NEWS RELEASE
Stop Ecocide proposes “concrete solution” to climate & ecological emergency at the International Rebellion
Stop Ecocide, the global campaign to make ecocide an international crime, will have a presence and speakers at the international rebellion. Extinction Rebellion has stated it will peacefully blockade various key sites across central London this month until three demands – for truth, action and a democracy fit for purpose – are met. Allied movements across 60 countries will be taking action simultaneously.
Stop Ecocide considers itself a distinct yet complementary campaign, based since 2017 in Stroud, the same small Cotswold town that saw the birth of Extinction Rebellion. Jojo Mehta, co-founder of Stop Ecocide, says: “Big societal shifts – such as the civil rights movement, women getting the vote and the abolition of the slave trade – have always been driven by large grassroots mobilisations, supported by legislative changes. XR and the Youth Strikes have woken the world up to the problem. Ecocide law is a concrete legislative solution we can now demand of our governments, to protect the Earth and future generations.”
Establishing ecocide as an atrocity crime at the International Criminal Court would make large-scale and systematic damage to ecosystems illegal – by making those in positions of superior responsibility liable to criminal prosecution as individuals, just as they would if they ordered or permitted a massacre.
“Ecocide is not just about CO2 emissions,” explains Ms Mehta. “It’s also about deforestation, biodiversity loss, water pollution, soil depletion, overfishing, industrial farming, oil spills. It criminalises any activity leading to widespread, long-term or severe loss, damage or destruction of ecosystems, including ways of life dependent on those ecosystems. With this one simple legal change, serious harm to the Earth can be prevented. When government ministers can no longer issue permits for it, when insurers can no longer underwrite it, when investors can no longer back it, when CEOs can be held criminally responsible for it, the harm will stop. Ecocide law is the missing piece to create climate and ecological justice.”
In order to add ecocide to the Rome Statute, the document governing the International Criminal Court, any member Head of State may propose an amendment. With a 2/3 majority the amendment can be adopted and enforced by those who ratify (to enforce for all members a 7/8 majority is required).
The campaign invites people to become “Earth Protectors” by gifting into a Trust Fund ring-fenced to support the progress of an ecocide amendment to the Rome Statute.
“The moment of proposal is key,” Ms Mehta adds, “because when a crime of ecocide becomes visible on the horizon, civil society across the world has a powerful lever to pressure their own governments. To this end, we have been working with small climate-vulnerable Pacific island states who have the incentive and also the power to propose an amendment. So this is not just a great idea – it’s already under discussion.”
An unusual feature of the campaign is that the Earth Protectors Trust Fund document has been apostilled in virtually every jurisdiction in the world, giving it weight in a court of law. It has been used by some activists in criminal trials as primary evidence of their status as “Conscientious Protectors”, underlining their human right to Freedom of Conscience and enabling them to bring evidence supporting their motivation for taking peaceful direct action.
Jojo Mehta will be speaking at several of the Extinction Rebellion sites in London on Wednesday 9th October.
Contact: PRESS & PR
press@stopecocide.earth
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About Stop Ecocide
Stop Ecocide is a public-facing campaign managed by Ecological Defence Integrity Ltd (EDI), a UK non-profit incorporated in 2017 for the purpose of forwarding an international law of ecocide.
Further legal and historical information can be found at www.ecocidelaw.com
Recent coverage:
CBC Radio (from 1min50in)
BBC World Service (between 8.50-13.08 mins)
Stop Ecocide: Change the law - An Overview
Stop Ecocide: Change the law - An Overview
The world is in climate and ecological crisis. And right now ECOCIDE (large-scale destruction of the natural living world) is legally permitted. Current regulations simply do not stop the harm.
We believe that the most effective way to turn the planetary ship around is to make ECOCIDE an international crime - and we are already partway down the road to making this happen.
Our non-profit Ecological Defence Integrity, founded in 2017 by UK barrister the late Polly Higgins and environmental campaigner Jojo Mehta, is working on adding Ecocide to the list of crimes prosecuted at the International Criminal Court (ICC), to sit alongside War Crimes, Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity and - more recently - Crimes of Aggression.
Our work has two key elements:
Diplomatic/legal - our international team is already working with small, climate-vulnerable states which have the power to propose an Ecocide amendment at the ICC. The ICC’s annual conference in The Hague in December is the key forum for advancing this work. We have accompanied Pacific island representatives and enabled their voices and concerns to be heard there for 3 consecutive years, as the nations most impacted by climate emergency. This year we are taking four Island States with us.
Campaigning - our public-facing STOP ECOCIDE CAMPAIGN is both funding this work and raising global awareness of ecocide crime as a concrete solution capable of addressing our global crisis.
Supporters declare themselves Earth Protectors, providing visible support for the campaign and for Small Island Developing States (Global South) progressing a law of ecocide, and contributing into a fund to support legal, diplomatic and practical assistance for those states.
Who are we?
We have a core team of lawyers, academics, researchers and diplomatic contacts working with Pacific island states towards proposing a crime of ecocide at the ICC.
We have a second growing team of campaign and outreach staff taking forward the Stop Ecocide campaign internationally, supported by a team of volunteers.
Contact: PRESS & PR
press@stopecocide.earth
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Website
About Stop Ecocide
Stop Ecocide is a public-facing campaign managed by Ecological Defence Integrity Ltd (EDI), a UK non-profit incorporated in 2017 for the purpose of forwarding an international law of ecocide.
Further legal and historical information can be found at www.ecocidelaw.com
Recent coverage:
CBC Radio (from 1min50in)
BBC World Service (between 8.50-13.08 mins)