European Parliament’s ENVI Committee backs recognition of Ecocide

In its opinion on the liability of corporations for environmental damage, the European Parliament’s ENVI (environmental) Committee has echoed last week’s EP vote and now “calls on the Commission and member states to raise awareness and promote solutions on the protection of environmental rights and the recognition of ecocide in international law”.  

This opinion now goes forward as a recommendation to the JURI (legal affairs) Committee, which will, later this year, work on the revision of the EU Directive on Environmental Crime, and is thus a significant preliminary step towards consideration of ecocide legislation at the EU level. 

The amendment was submitted by MEP Marie Toussaint (Greens/EFA), who is delighted with today’s result: “This is a first for the European Parliament. A powerful committee is now addressing recognition of ecocide in EU law, and there is no going back. Things are moving fast now in Europe, and we absolutely must seize this moment to make concrete progress - it is our duty to make this unstoppable.”