“The recent proposal by Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa to recognise ecocide is timely and could provide a global framework of accountability for environmental damage. For Aotearoa New Zealand, this is a chance to champion a progressive legal response and show leadership in the region.”
Nathan Cooper and Leilani Tuala-Warren for Greenpeace, 18/09/2024
“Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa have formally asked the International Criminal Court to consider ecocide — acts that destroy the world’s ecosystems — an international crime, alongside genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
Rachel Pannett for The Washington Post, 10/09/2024
"Ecocide law moves us toward a future where business and nature need not be at odds."
Monica Lennon MSP for Mongabay, 19/08/2024.
“Ecocide law could provide a new global framework within which companies are supported in their moves toward sustainability. It would turbo-charge green innovation, redirect finance and investment away from the most harmful practices, and help meaningfully bridge the intolerable gap between environmental protection and economic development.”
Charlotte O’Leary for Fast Company, 13/09/2024
“Three developing countries have taken the first steps towards transforming the world’s response to climate breakdown and environmental destruction by making ecocide a punishable criminal offence.”
Fiona Harvey for The Guardian, 09/09/2024
"Ecocide law is a powerful symbol of the fundamental importance of the natural world and a recognition that we cannot exist without it."
By Sue Miller for the Journal of Biophilic Design, 08/08/2024
“One particular designer to watch for is Lucy Tammam, who is using her show to call for stronger legislation to protect the planet. Collaborating with Stop Ecocide International, Tammam has created a one-of-a-kind dress - One Dress: PLANET”
Yasmin Rufo for BBC News, 12/09/2024
“A significant majority of people in the world's largest economies agree that causing environmental damage should be a criminal offence, according to the results of a major new poll.”
Cecilia Keating for Business Green, 06/09/2024
Vanuatu’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Odo Tevi, has called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to include ecocide as a fifth international crime under the Rome Statute.
“The Rome Statute must include ecocide as a fifth international crime, expanding its remit to protect the living world upon which we entirely depend,” Tevi urged.
By Pita Ligaiula for Pina, 31/07/2024
“After the Nuremberg trials, you had a neologism to describe the horrors of the second world war, which was genocide. Now there is another neologism, ecocide. [...] Stop Ecocide is the movement trying to make ecocide an international crime.”
By Simon McBurney for The Guardian, 29/06/2024
The #EU passes "landmark law to protect nature after a knife-edge vote"!
While a massively encouraging step forward, restoration targets must be complemented by #ecocidelaw to prevent major environmental destruction.
By Ajit Niranjan for The Guardian, 17/06/2024
“Only, specifies Esmeralda, the recognition of ecocide as an international crime will make it possible to deter, but also to prevent and punish the "most serious damage committed against nature and the climate, to strengthen existing legislation, including multilateral environmental agreements. It is about protecting nature through criminal law, and also creating a moral imperative that can act as a shield for the living world”."
By Emmanuelle Jowa for Paris Match, 15/06/2024
“The Escazú Agreement complements [ecocide] law by providing environmental defenders with the tools needed to advocate for the protection of their rights and the environment. Together, these mechanisms contribute to a legal framework that protects the environment, and its defenders, and draws a moral red line beyond which actions that damage the planet are deemed unacceptable.”
By Rodrigo Lledó for openDemocracy, 21/05/2024
“We, representatives of thirteen Swedish companies and organisations, call on the government to actively work for the introduction of an international ecocide law that protects valuable nature and contributes to fair rules of the game on the world market.”
By Dan-Eric Archer, Jorgën Eriksson, Johanna Lakso, Martin Forsén and Robert Szöcs for AktuellHållbarhet, 15/05/2024
“As the movement to criminalize ecocide gathers momentum, Jojo [Mehta] stands at the forefront. Her unwavering leadership serves as a beacon of hope for a world where humanity and the environment can co-exist in harmony.”
By Institute of Natural Law, 07/05/2024
“Companies cannot be given a license to spill and kill, provided they clear up the mess”. These were my closing remarks when I led the prosecution in the world’s first mock ecocide trial in 2011.
By Michael Mansfield KC for The Times, 02/05/2024
Jojo Mehta, chief executive of the Stop Ecocide International campaign, said she believes ecocide law could cover the worst kind of harm to Britain’s rivers, should sewage or agricultural pollution be shown to have caused “severe and either widespread or long-term damage”."
By Adam Forrest for i News, 20/04/2024
“A new report commissioned by the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland (ERCS) considers how the unprecedented support for criminalising ecocide can translate into a ‘workable domestic offence’ in Scotland that can hold polluters to account.”
By The Canary, 19/04/2024
“The international criminal court (ICC) has been urged to start investigating and prosecuting individuals who harm the environment.”
By Isabella Kaminski for The Guardian, 26/03/2024
“The Nordic Waste scandal has unfortunately demonstrated that Danish environmental legislation does not work. Denmark should introduce more ambitious legislation by criminalizing ecocide in order to prevent future environmental disasters.”
By Bart Bes and Lars Olesen for Politiken, 26/03/2024
“Vanuatu and Ukraine are united in their calls for a law which applies to all such environmental damage, wherever and whenever it occurs.
This deters polluters from causing destruction in the first place and ensures that those who do can be brought to justice.”
By Maksym Popov and Ambassador Odo Tevi for Euronews, 26/03/2024
“Groundbreaking ecocide laws which will see reckless company bosses jailed for environmental destruction have been backed by the Scottish Government.”
By John Ferguson for Daily Record, 25/03/2024
“Jojo Mehta spoke to Anna Ackermann, a policy analyst at the International Institute for Sustainable Development, about the cultural contexts of adding the fifth international crime to the Rome Statute, the impact of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on the legal discourse around ecocide, and the significance of the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam.”
By Anna Ackermann for London Ukrainian Review, 04/03/2024
“The historic vote from the EU to include ecocide-level crimes in its revised crime directive shows leadership and compassion, and will strongly reinforce existing environmental laws across the region,’ said Jojo Mehta, Co-Founder and CEO of Stop Ecocide International. ‘It will establish a clear moral as well as legal “red line”, creating an essential steer for European industry leaders and policy-makers going forward.”
By Martin Guttridge-Hewitt for Environment Journal, 28/02/2024
“The European Union has become the first international body to criminalise the most serious cases of environmental damage that are “comparable to ecocide”.
Ecosystem destruction, including habitat loss and illegal logging, will be punished with tougher penalties and prison sentences under the EU’s updated environmental crime directive.”
By Mette Mølgaard Henriksen for Euronews, 27/02/2024
“With prominent voices like that of Belgium leading the way, tangible progress is being made internationally, particularly so in Europe following last November’s agreement to include ecocide-level crimes in the EU’s revised environmental crimes directive. I have no doubt we will see international recognition of the crime of ecocide in the near future.” - Jojo Mehta
By Maïthé Chini for The Brussels Times, 23/02/2024
“A new crime of ecocide, a preventative and all-encompassing framework, can rectify an existing taboo in international environmental regulation: the most serious destructions of nature are morally reprehensible and thus criminally liable acts. Ecocide law therefore holds significant potential to usher in a new era of environmental governance that can ensure exacting protection for nature, on Earth and in outer space.”
By Anna Madrick for Eco-nnect, 11/02/2024
From deadly floods in California to devastating fires in Chile, scientists say the world is not prepared for the climate disasters that are hitting with increasing frequency as human-driven global heating continues to break records.
By Jonathan Watts for The Guardian, 06/02/2024
“A country renowned across the globe for its breathtaking natural beauty, has become one of the most nature-depleted in the world.
No one should deliberately harm our environment and expect the public to foot the bill. That’s why I’m consulting on a proposed new law to make ecocide a crime.”
By Monica Lennon MSP for the Scottish Daily Express, 03/02/2024
Advocates are hailing the legislation as a landmark moment for global environmentalism, and especially the Stop Ecocide movement, which seeks to move legal enforcement of the most serious environmental crimes from the civil into the criminal arena – and thus reframe egregious destruction of nature as more akin to crimes against people.
By Trevor Bach for US News, 02/02/2024
Jojo Mehta, CEO of the group Stop Ecocide International, said Scotland is now at “the forefront of the global conversation” on criminalising ecocide - a term to describe severe types of environmental destruction.
It comes as Scottish Labour MSP Monica Lennon is consulting on groundbreaking proposals for an Ecocide Bill in Scotland.
By Dan Vevers for the Daily Record, 20/01/2024
The term “ecocide” first emerged during the Vietnam War, used to describe the destructive environmental consequences of the defoliant Agent Orange. After featuring in United Nations talks during the following decades, by 1998, ecocide had been proposed as an international crime against peace in a draft of the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the ICC.
By Fermín Koop for Diálogo Chino, 16/01/2024
There is "a clear legislative direction of travel" in several national jurisdictions, at a regional level in the European Union and even at a global level, where progress is made "towards the recognition of #ecocide ."
By EuroNews, 15/01/2024
While several climate activists have been sent to prison for their involvement in disruptive protests, legislation is now also being strengthened to impose criminal sanctions on individuals found responsible for large-scale environmental damage.
By Claudia De Meulemeester for SustainableViews, 11/01/2024
Ecocide law gives us the opportunity to bridge the gap between what existing legal instruments can achieve and what the science is telling us must be done.
By Professor Kristin Vala Ragnarsdóttir and Professor Eleanor Sharpston KC for Ecologist, 20/12/2023
Humans have this deep separation from nature, that gives us a kind of cultural inability to recognize the severity of what it means when we harm the natural world. We have a large number of environmental laws around the world, and what we’re seeing is that they’re not effective or adequate to address global, ecological, and climate crisis.
By Matthew Green for DeSmog, 8/12/2023
The Scottish Government has been urged to show “much-need global leadership” at COP28 and harness its work on loss and damage into efforts to tackle ecocide.
The appeal comes after delegates unexpectedly agreed to set up a global loss and damage fund on the first day of COP28 in Dubai, with at least $400m pledged so far.
By David Bol for The Herald, 1/12/2023
New EU "Ecocide" crime agreed. Perpetrators could face at least 10 years in prison while companies could be hit with fines as high as €40 million per offence.
By Katie Surma for Inside Climate News, 23/11/2023
Although civil penalties exist for pollution, the proposed strong criminal law for the most serious damage to the environment, with proposed jail terms of between ten and 20 years for individuals and large fines for companies, would make anyone think twice before committing to a course of action which would cause serious harm to nature or the climate.
By Richard Dixon for The Scotsman, 15/11/2023
The European Union has become the first international body to criminalise widescale environmental damage “comparable to ecocide.
By Isabella Kaminski for The Guardian, 17/11/2023
The ecocide legislation would make Scotland the first part of the UK to incorporate a crime of ecocide - defined as "unlawful or wanton acts" which cause widespread environmental damage.
By BBC News, 8/11/2023
Big polluters could see 10% of their turnover seized while climate criminals could face up to 20 years in prison for wrecking the environment under plans tabled by a Labour MSP.
By David Bol for The Herald, 8/11/2023
By calling for international recognition of the crime of ecocide, to ensure lasting legal protection for all life on Earth, we would be changing the rules of the game within which the current model of capitalism operates.
By Tessa Clarke for BusinessGreen, 01/11/2023
… Rome Statute must be amended to recognise a stand-alone crime that aims to prevent and punish the most severe harm to nature — ecocide.
By Richard J. Rogers and Moneim Adam for euronews, 26/10/2023
An amendment to the Rome Statute could have a ‘catalysing’ impact across nations to formulate their own laws; individual nations enshrining ecocide in their legislation could, in turn, build up pressure on the ICC.
By Saumya Kalia for The Hindu, 04/09/2023
Camden has become the first council in the UK to call for ecocide to be recognised as a crime under international law.
The motion, which reportedly received cross-party support from councilors, calls for ecocide to be recognised as a crime which damages the environment and endangers the future of the planet.
By Dan Cody for the Evening Standard, 26/09/2023
… existing protections are severely limited. Many focus on illegal actions and regulating activity, which still leaves nature vulnerable to acts known to cause severe environmental harm without actually breaking laws.
By Environment Journal, 29/08/2023
While damaging the environment is already an offence in most countries, recognition of ecocide elevates the most egregious cases to a crime – with accompanying penalties. A growing number of countries are considering introducing laws to make ecocide a crime.
By Isabella Kaminski for The Guardian, 26/08/2023
“The Greens have backed calls for a new “ecocide” law in Scotland to punish people guilty of mass environmental destruction. Labour MSP Monica Lennon is spearheading efforts to get the eco law on Holyrood’s statute books amid a global push for an international ecocide crime to hold planet killers to account.”
By Dan Vevers for Daily Record, 22/08/2023
“Businesses working to deliver a more sustainable economy would benefit in more ways than one if #ecocide was recognised as a crime, writes Triodos' Hans Stegeman.
It is essential to address the underlying political, economic and cultural drivers of
biodiversity loss and the mechanisms that encourage an extractive use of resources
and a destructive relationship with nature.”
By Hans Stegeman, Triodos Bank for BusinessGreen, 21/08/2023
“Plans for a groundbreaking new "#ecocide" law in Scotland to punish those who destroy nature have been hailed by campaigners.If backed by MSPs, Scotland could become one of the first countries in the world to establish a specific crime for mass environmental damage and destruction - such as deforestation or oil spills.”
By Dan Vevers for Daily Record, 21/08/2023
“Currently, four specific acts — genocide, crimes against humanity, aggression and war crimes — are recognized as international crimes. Ukraine would like to add a fifth — ecocide.”
By Marc Santora for New York Times, 17/08/2023
“Mexico has announced a new bill to criminalise ‘ecocide’ – the deliberate or negligent destruction of the natural environment – joining countries including the Netherlands, Brazil, Spain and Belgium to penalise the act.”
by Victoria Heath for Geographical, 13/08/2023
“Does the world need a bespoke mechanism to extract retribution for wanton and widespread crimes against the natural environment? Should ecocide be internationally recognised a crime as horrific as genocide?”
by Rashmee Roshan Lall for The New European, 29/07/2023
“… international criminal law sets the boundaries marking what is globally unacceptable: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression. But when considering these fundamental protections there is a huge blind spot in international law: protection for the environment.”
By Jojo Mehta, for Euronews, 09/08/2023
“These are ever more urgent reminders that if we don’t bring emissions down to net zero, these extremes will continue to get worse. That means heat humps and energy efficiency for our homes, electric vehicles on our roads, and more wind and solar to power it all.”
By David Vetter for Forbes, 27/07/2023
“They say there’s no such thing as a new crime—only new laws. And that’s why activists and advocates are campaigning for crimes against nature to become a reality. They want the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague to add the crime of “ecocide” to its statute, putting massive environmental damage in the books alongside the four existing major atrocity crimes—of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of starting an aggressive war.”
By Simone Scriven for The Delacorte Review, 18/07/2023
“This autumn, I will publish a public consultation on a law against ecocide in Scotland. By criminalising ecocide in Scotland, we would have the power to prosecute those who severely harm our environment.”
Monica Lennon in The Scotsman, 20/07/2023
Plans for a new “ecocide” law that would punish those responsible for mass environmental damage in Scotland are taking a step forward. Labour MSP Monica Lennon said she is working on the proposals over the summer, with a formal consultation planned for later this year.
The Scotsman, 13/07/2023
A groundbreaking documentary, directed by Gert-Peter Bruch and Princess Esméralda of Belgium, sheds light on the urgent need to make ecocide a crime and protect indigenous territories in the Brazilian Amazon.
Yasmin Dahnoun for Ecologist, 05/07/2023
Dr. Luigi Daniele, Senior Lecturer at Nottingham Law School, NTU discusses ecocide and climate justice with Professor Richard Falk.
Luigi Daniele for OpinioJuris, 10/07/2023
It may take years to fully understand the full scope of the damage caused by the destruction of the Kakhovkadam but some legal and environmental experts believe the unfolding ecological catastrophe will be a turning point for the recognition of ecocide.”
Radina Gigova for CNN, 03/07/2023
Members of the political groups in the European Parliament welcomed on Wednesday the decision to start interinstitutional negotiations on the revision of the EU directive on environmental crimes with a mandate to include ecocide in the new legislation.
M. Apelblat for The Brussels Times, 02/04/2023
…after days of gruelling round-the-clock talks, UN member states finally agreed on a treaty to protect the high seas.
A full day after the deadline for talks had officially passed, the conference president, Rena Lee of Singapore, took to the floor of room 2 of the UN headquarters in New York and announced that the treaty had been agreed. At a later date, the delegates will meet for half a day to formally adopt the text. She made it clear the text would not be reopened.
Karen McVeigh for The Guardian, 05/03/2023
Toxic smoke, contaminated rivers, poisoned soil, trees reduced to charred stumps, nature reserves pocked with craters: the environmental toll from Russia’s war with Ukraine, which has been detailed in a new map, might once have been considered incalculable. The environment ministry has set up a hotline for citizens to report cases of Russian “ecocide”, which so far number 2,303, and issues weekly updates of the tally.
Jonathan Watts for The Guardian, 20/02/2023
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (CoE) has adopted two decisions calling for the recognition of ecocide as a crime in international and national legislation. The member states should also take concrete steps to propose amendment of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in order to add ecocide as a new crime.
The Brussels Times, 02/02/2022
Ecocide needs to be designated as the world’s fifth atrocity crime, with the same moral power and legal impact as genocide and crimes against humanity.
Steven Donziger for The Guardian, 22/11/2022
Stop Ecocide NL wins 3rd place in Dutch newspaper Trouw’s ranking of 100 sustainable change makers.
Trouw, 06/10/2022
“Currently, there are four crimes recognized by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC): genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggression.
Now, a group of advocates wants to add a fifth ecocide defined as “mass damage and destruction of ecosystems – severe harm to nature which is widespread or long-term,” according to Stop Ecocide International.”
By Olivia Rosane for EcoWatch, 30/09/2022
“… Jackson estimates about two dozen countries at this point have expressed a recorded interest in the concept of classifying ecocide as an international crime, including the United Kingdom, Spain, Iceland, France, Mexico and Chile.
She hopes the movement’s momentum only continues building from there, especially after the last week.”
By Ramon Antonio Vargas for The Guardian, 26/09/2022
“The Committee overall agreed with the complaint, finding that climate change is currently impacting the claimant’s daily lives to the extent that their rights are being violated, and that Australia is failing to take sufficient steps to secure the communities’ safe existence on their islands.”
ClientEarth, 23/09/2022
"Ecocide is an umbrella term for all mainfestations of mass environmental devastation, ranging from industrial pollution to the dumping of microplastic into the oceans."
- Arianne G. for The Business Times, 02/09/2022
“Okowa focused her comments on a proposed definition for ecocide that was put forth by an independent expert panel last summer. That panel, convened by the non-governmental organization Stop Ecocide, defined ecocide as “unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts.”"
- Katie Surma for Inside Climate News, 10/07/2022
“The most effective way to enforce criminal accountability long-term, however, is to amend the Rome Statute to explicitly include ecocide as a fifth crime against peace - not limited only to war time.”
- Statement of the Ecocide Alliance On Environmental Crimes in Ukraine for Parliamentarians for Global Action, 31/05/2022
“In the days leading up to the Stockholm + 50 conference, Stop Ecocide hosted a series of talks in the city about the proposed crime that featured lawmakers from Sweden, Finland and Iceland, as well as Indigenous leaders, economists, scientists and lawyers.”
By Katie Surma for Inside Climate News, 10/06/2022
“More than fifty years have passed since the world began discussing the criminalization of large-scale environmental degradation, ecocide. In recent years, the issue has taken off in earnest, with several countries advocating an update of the law. But in Sweden, the government does not want to raise the issue - despite the upcoming UN meeting in Stockholm.”
By Jenny Stiernstedt for Dagens Industri, 01/06/2022
“The focus on human-to-human crimes in the ICC’s four core crimes renders invisible environmental harm and environmental criminal activity. That is why some are now suggesting the introduction of “Crimes Against the Environment” into international criminal law.”
By Hope Elizabeth Tracey for EnvironBuzz Mag, 01/06/2022
"More and more voices are being raised for the International Criminal Court to include ecocide - large-scale environmental degradation - among international crimes. An expert committee of lawyers has now worked out a proposal for a definition of the term.”
By Sverker Lenas for Dagens Nyheter, 31/05/2022
“Toronto's Stop Ecocide chapter published an open letter this week calling on the federal government to voice its support for criminalizing ecocide at the International Criminal Court.”
By Morgan Sharp for Canada’s National Observer, 31/05/2022
“Now it’s time to highlight ecocide for real. If the Swedish government don’t take this opportunity to raise the issue now, when the stage is set and Sweden is hosting the conference which will draw attention to the Stockholm Conference where the question was first lifted 50 years ago, then I do not understand when they will take it. ”
Dagens Nyheter, 29/05/2022
“The creation of an international ecocidal crime under the ICC Charter would mean that individuals could be held liable - at international level - for extreme environmental damage, in the same way that individual liability for serious violations of human rights was created by previous international criminal law.”
By Tomas Nordberg for Global Bar Magazine, 17/05/2022
"[Stop Ecocide] wants more than just recognition of ecocide as a concept, it sees it as a tool to hold to account those most responsible for disastrous decisions."
By Andrés Ingi Jónsson for VISIR, 16/05/2022
"Ecocide law is no longer just a wild idea. Discussions are ongoing in several ICC member states, and Finland's Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto is in favour of continuing them.”
By Petja Pelli for Helsingin Sanomat, 10/05/2022
“We talked with Jojo Mehta about Ecocide, a law that will forever change the relationship and accountability people, corporations, and governments have with planet Earth.”
By Yeray Lopez for MoonLeaks, 05/05/2022
Throughout the years, human activities have harmed ecological resources in the name of “development.” Ecological deterioration was long observed as a mere side effect of progressing in other walks of life.
By Bas Fransen for Ecomatcher, 02/05/2022
Ecocide refers to recklessly damaging the environment and causing irreversible harm to ecosystems, which in turn fosters conditions for climate change, and is the newest proposed international crime.
By Katie Babson for The Climate Change Review, 13/04/2022
The Overton Window is a model for how ideas change over time and how these ideas influence what happens in politics.
By Patricia Lustig and Gill Ringland for RADIX, 13/04/2022
The number of crimes against the environment in the last 40 years is overwhelming and the consequences for humanity are devastating. Until now, these cases end up in civil justice, and convictions only result in fines.
By BBVA, 03/2022
The campaign to introduce a new international crime of “ecocide” at the International Criminal Court (ICC) is long-standing but has received increased support over the last couple of years.
By Rachel Killean for IPI Global Observatory, 30/03/2022
The latest IPCC report provides a chilling read on the health of the planet, says Kate Mackintosh. She explains why the crime of “ecocide” should become the fifth crime to be prosecuted at the International Criminal Court, alongside genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and aggression.
By Kate Mackintosh for Bloomberg Law, 18/03/2022
What we can do is a series drawing inspiration from the change-makers of our time. What are they doing to help our planet? What were their first steps? What gives them hope? Climate action is needed. Here’s what we can do.
By Ceri for Ecosia Blog, 17/03/2022
In what is thought to be a first-of-its-kind action, the lawsuit brought by activist shareholders claims that Shell’s 13 directors are personally liable for failing to devise a strategy in line with the Paris agreement, which aims to limit global heating to below 2C by slashing fossil fuel emissions.
By Damien Gayle for The Guardian, 15/03/2022
High-ranking politicians and corporate bosses who are guilty of massive destruction of nature should be able to be accused of ecocide in The Hague - Rizwana Hasan and Jojo Mehta are fighting for this.
By Anya Rider for Greenpeace Magazin (in German), 11/03/2022
The conflict reveals the limits of state accountability for environmental harm in war.
By Rachel Killean for Conflict and Environment Observatory, 07/03/2022
According to the Children’s Climate Risk Index (CCRI), nearly half of the world’s children ‘are at “extremely high risk” of the impacts of climate change.… And it is happening today.’ (UNICEF, 2021, p. 4)
By Juliette Bail for Humanium, 15/02/2022
In the last few years, the ecocide movement has gained momentum. A few smaller island states, Vanuatu and the Maldives, have called on the world community to recognize ecocide as an international crime, and the topic has been on the political agenda in countries such as Belgium, Brazil, France, Britain and Sweden.
By Mette Mølgaard Henriksen for Zetland_, 15/02/2022
This criminal law route can therefore provide an enforceable deterrent to underpin and support UNFCCC agreements (Paris, Glasgow). Indeed, while ecocide was not on the official agenda at COP26 it was a word and theme that cropped up repeatedly across Glasgow last month, both inside and outside the official conference.
Advocates want to make ecocide a prosecutable offense with the International Criminal Court. It's an uphill battle they seem willing to fight.
The British lawyer and author has held Nazis and presidents accountable for crossing the moral red line. Now, he argues, the time has come to pursue those who commit crimes against the environment.
By Katie Surma for Inside Climate News, 22/12/2021
On every continent, humans have left their mark in the form of massive environmental destruction: deforestation in Brazil; strip mining in Canada’s Tar Sands; the devastation of West Africa’s fisheries; the obliterations of landscapes and ecosystems by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
By David Sassoon for Inside climate news, 22/12/2021
A global movement is rising to advocate for "ecocide" as a new crime before the International Criminal Court. The goal is draw a “moral line” for the planet.
By Katie Surma for NBC News and Inside Climate News, 2021
An expert panel brought together by the Stop Ecocide Foundation proposed last June to amend the statutes of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and include ecocide alongside other international crimes such as war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
By M. Apelblat for The Brussels Times / 11/12/2021
If ecocide were to be criminalised, we could not only punish mass polluters for the damage they cause, but also prevent the advent of new fossil fuel companies and projects.
By Nina de Ayala Parker for AlJazeera, 09/12/2021
In November, the world’s first global citizens’ assembly – made up of 100 people chosen by lottery from around the world – declared its recommended responses to the climate crisis at the UN climate conference COP26. Among these recommendations was that causing severe environmental destruction, or “ecocide”, should become a crime.
By Rachel Killean for The Conversation, 08/12/2021
The campaign to make ecocide an international crime took center stage in the Hague on Tuesday as Bangladesh, Samoa and Vanuatu advocated criminalizing environmental destruction during a virtual forum at the annual meeting of the International Criminal Court’s 123 member nations.
By Katie Surma for Inside Climate News, 07/12/2021
COP26 has refocused the world’s attention on climate action. And the continuing flurry of litigation suggests citizens are now more serious than ever about pressing those in positions of power to address the climate crisis.
By Ruth Green for International Bar Association,01/12/2021
Our planet is facing a war against the world. The enemy is within and has weaponised a nihilistic philosophy that includes globalism, greed and ignorance, all bound up in an unsustainable economic system: infinite growth in a finite world.
by Jason McCue for The Times, 18/11/2021
The UN climate change conference can be assessed as a success or a failure depending on if the glass is seen as half full or half empty. When it comes to legislation against ecocide, progress was largely under the radar.
by M. Apelblat for The Brussels Times, 16/11/2021
Support for the idea of recognising ecocide as a serious crime is growing faster than expected - and from some unexpected quarters.
By Catherine Early for Ecologist, 11/11/2021
The crime of ecocide should be enshrined in national and international laws and strictly enforced, according to a declaration handed over to world leaders at the COP26 climate summit.
By Ilona Amos for The Scotsman, 03/11/2021
Hosting COP26 requires Scotland and the UK to show global leadership, and it would be fitting to recognise in law the now authoritatively defined crime of ecocide.
OPED by Jojo Mehta in the COP26 Special Journal (page 24), 10/2021
On Tuesday, AllRise, a group of climate lawyers, asked the International Criminal Court to investigate Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro for his Amazon development policies. The lawyers say “crimes against nature are crimes against humanity.”
By Mike Corder for The Christian Science Monitor (CSM), 12/10/2021
The folks behind the push to make ecocide a crime say a global law would create real consequences for those who cause severe environmental harm, and this young Canadian is making their case ahead of the COP26 global climate conference next month.
By Morgan Sharp for Canada’s National Observer, 07/10/2021
Pope Francis and other religious leaders made a joint appeal on Monday for next month's U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP26) to offer concrete solutions to save the planet from "an unprecedented ecological crisis".
By Philip Pullella for Reuters, 04/10/2021
With legal and environmental experts pushing to criminalize the destruction of the environment, “ecocide” could have major consequences for both government and business. How could a new legal definition transform climate action?
Video by World Economic Forum, 22/09/2021
Few believe that just one person can change the world but if anyone came close, it was Polly Higgins.
By Alice Hinds for The Sunday Post, 20/09/2021
As proliferating disasters starkly demonstrate, severe damage to the environment is a crime against everyone. Rather than leave it to regulation by individual states, the International Criminal Court should recognize “ecocide” as an international crime.
By Kate Mackintosh, Jojo Mehta, Richard Rogers for Project Syndicate, 31/08/2021
Could Scotland be the first country to adopt new Ecocide definition for crimes against the planet?
By John Ferguson for The Daily Record, 15/08/2021
New IPCC report details rapid acceleration of climate symptoms. It’s time to address the root causes: make ecocide an international crime.
AR6 Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis, by the IPCC
Intentionally harming the planet could be discussed in the same international court that tries war crimes.
by Angely Mercado for Popular Science, 31/07/2021
For over a year, I have been involved in research and discussions on the fascinatingly difficult issues in defining ecocide, as part of a UCLA Promise Institute project.
By Darryl Robinson for OpinioJuris, 16/07/2021
In part one of this post, I mapped out the main controversies and choices to be made in defining ecocide. I now introduce the most difficult conundrum: how to align ecocide with environmental law
By Darryl Robinson for OpinioJuris, 16/07/2021
The story of the struggle to have ecocide recognized as a crime against humanity.
by Giuseppe Luca Scaffidi for Rolling Stone Italia, 30/07/2021
Last month, a panel of international lawyers chaired by Philippe Sands and Dior Fall Sow launched our proposal for a new crime of ‘ecocide’ – an international crime of environmental destruction that would sit alongside genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression at the International Criminal Court.
by Kate Mackintosh for LegalPlanet, 13/07/2021
“Ecocide law will empower companies and countries to change their behaviour.”
by Paul Luttikhuis for NRC, 13/07/2021
Will trees soon have a voice in court?
by Paul Luttikhuis for NRC, 13/07/2021
“When we were first able to view, and photograph, the Earth from space, our planetary perspective changed. Suddenly “home” had a whole new meaning. Nowhere, as far as our technology has been able to discern, is there evidence of any planet like Earth — anywhere else that can sustain life as we know it.”
by Jojo Mehta for Common Dreams, 11/07/2021
“… perhaps the most powerful effect of defining and criminalizing ecocide as an international crime may be that of beginning to shift cultural and moral assumptions. Our understanding of our place in, and responsibility towards, the natural world is in dire need of a reality check.”
by Jojo Mehta for The Hill, 10/07/2021
![The global conversation around it [ecocide] - and in particular the conversation around criminalising it - is growing fast.by Jojo Mehta for The Independent, 07/07/202](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ca2608ab914493c64ef1f6d/1628844305232-YXOKC2PBDAUJ8EBNLWYZ/Jojo+indy+SQ.png)
The global conversation around it [ecocide] - and in particular the conversation around criminalising it - is growing fast.
by Jojo Mehta for The Independent,
07/07/202
A panel of criminal and environmental lawyers from around the world has created a legal definition for ‘ecocide’ as the basis of a push to criminalize mass damage and destruction of ecosystems.
by Sean Fleming for World Economic Forum, 01/07/2021
Crime of ecocide could transform fight against climate change.
by Pilita Clark for Financial Times, 25/06/2021
Some environmental lawyers want to make destruction of an ecosystem an international crime -- “ecocide” -- on par with genocide or war crimes.
Bloomberg Green, 25/06/2021
Expert group develops international definition of the crime of ecocide.
by Patricia Jolly for Le Monde, 25/06/2021
From oil spills to open-pit mining, clear-cut logging to heavy-net trawling, humans continue to scar the planet despite mountains of legislation, regulation and good intent.
by Ryan Hesketh for Bloomberg Green, 25/06/2021
This week, legal experts defined and put forward a new proposed category of international crime - ‘ecocide.’ If taken up by Parties to the International Criminal Court (ICC), it would become the fifth category of offences to be prosecuted under the court, alongside war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and the crime of aggression.
United Nations Environment Programme, 24/06/2021
An expert panel brought together by the Stop Ecocide Foundation proposed this week to amend the statutes of the International Criminal Court and include ecocide alongside other international crimes such as war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
by M. Apelblat for The Brussels Times, 24/06/2021
Legal experts from across the globe have drawn up a “historic” definition of ecocide, intended to be adopted by the International Criminal Court to prosecute the most egregious offences against the environment.
By Haroon Siddique for The National Observer, 23/06/2021
Here is ecocide, the new possibly global crime.
by Graham Lawton, for La Repubblica, 23/06/2021
If adopted, the draft law would mean individuals could be prosecuted in the International Criminal Court for causing ‘widespread or long-term damage to the environment’.
by Theodore Whyte for Desmog, 23/06/2021
The initial goal is to define ‘ecocide’, and while any formal recognition of the term as a crime in international law could be years away, Dr Rachel Killean, from the School of Law at Queen’s, has based a lot of her research on the merits of changing international law to see ecocide established alongside war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
by Mark Bain for Belfast Telegraph, 23/06/2021
A proposed definition of "ecocide" aims to add mass environmental destruction to the list of crimes the International Criminal Court can prosecute.
by By Katie Surma and Yuliya Talmazan for NBC News, 23/06/2021
How a growing movement plans to put ecocide on equal footing with war crimes.
by Robinette Girard for News24, 22/06/2021
Ecocide, a crime against the planet, gains legal definition and moves towards prosecution.
by William Alteres for EL PAÍS, 22/06/2021
Supporters now hope the 165-word definition will go before the International Criminal court’s member nations for ratification, which could take years.
By Katie Surma and Yuliya Talmazan for Inside Climate News, 22/06/2021
Will there soon be an Ecocide provision at the ICC for Murdering the Planet?
by Susanne Götze for Der Spiegel, 22/06/2021
A panel of international lawyers on Tuesday published an official legal definition of the term "ecocide," which for decades has been condemned by conservationists and climate action campaigners but which until now has not been recognized as a crime.
by Julia Conley for Common Dreams, 22/06/2021
Approving the right definition could pave the way for acts of environmental destruction to be prosecuted and condemned by the International Criminal Court, under the same consideration as war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocides and aggression.
by Julie Gaubert for Euro News, 22/06/2021
After six months of deliberation, a team of international lawyers has unveiled a new legal definition of “ecocide” that, if adopted, would put environmental destruction on a par with war crimes – paving the way for the prosecution of world leaders and corporate chiefs for the worst attacks on nature.
By Jack Losh for Aljazeera, 22/06/2021
An international team of lawyers co-chaired by Philippe Sands QC and Dior Fall Sow has presented the outcome of its work announced in November last year to develop a legal definition of ecocide. This is a crucial step towards adding ecocide to the list of other major offences recognised by the international criminal court (ICC), including crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide.
By Alexandre Antonelli & Pella Thiel for The Guardian, 22/06/2021
Legal experts from across the globe have drawn up a “historic” definition of ecocide, intended to be adopted by the international criminal court to prosecute the most egregious offences against the environment.
Haroon Siddique in The Guardian, 22/06/2021
A panel convened by the Stop Ecocide Foundation will publish the legal definition of ecocide on Tuesday, seeking to pave the way for acts of environmental destruction to be incorporated into the International Criminal Court’s mandate. It could see ecocide established alongside war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity in the Hague.
By Sam Meredith for CNBC, 22/06/2021
Powerful individuals behind the most devastating assaults on the environment could be put in the dock under a new legal definition of “ecocide” that a heavyweight panel of international lawyers and hardened campaigners hope will revolutionise the fight against the climate crisis.
By Jack Losh for VICE, 21/06/2021
Lawyers will take a major step this month toward putting environmental destruction on the same level as war crimes and genocide.
By Trevor Bach in Audubon, 17/06/2021
Global momentum is growing for a collective meaningful effort to be made to tackle the increasing urgency of the climate emergency.
By Emma O’Brien in EJIL:Talk! 11/06/2021
Campaigners call for environmental destruction to be viewed as legally akin to war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.
By Kate Samuelson in The Week 02/06/2021
Ecocide may be on its way to becoming a new international crime.
By Graham Lawton in the New Scientist 05/05/2021
Action on climate change clearly isn’t radical any more. It’s mainstream, required by law and increasingly demanded by the population.
By Margaret Heffernan in the Financial Times 03/05/2021
Campaigners hope the threat of being hauled before the court scares politicians and executives into changing their behavior.
By Kalina Oroschakoff & Louise Guillot in Politico 08/04/21
International lawyers, environmentalists and a growing number of world leaders say “ecocide”—widespread destruction of the environment—would serve as a “moral red line” for the planet.
By Nicholas Kusnetz, Katie Surma & Yuliya Talmazan Inside Climate News & NBC News 07/04/21
Additional excellent Editorial piece by publisher Davia Sassoon
A growing movement wants destruction of the environment to be treated like genocide and crimes against humanity.
Rachel Dobbs in The Economist 28/02/21
Outlawing ecocide would hold governments and corporations accountable for environmental negligence. We can’t wait.
Jojo Mehta and Julia Jackson in The Guardian 24/02/21
Lawyers Are Working to Put 'Ecocide' on a Par with War Crimes. Could an International Law Hold Major Polluters to Account?
MÉLISSA GODIN in TIME 19/02/21
Philippe Sands on why “ecocide” should be a crime. How a proposed amendment to international human rights law could prohibit the systematic destruction of nature.
“Nothing concentrates the mind better than the prospect of an individual being found criminally liable” - Philippe Sands
India Bourke in New Statesman 16/2/21
2020 has been a bleak year in the climate crisis. So here’s the good news. Senior climate correspondent Louise Boyle asked scientists, activists and environmental lawyers to shine a light on some good news in 2020.
The Independent 31/12/2020
“A CEO doesn't want to be seen in the same bracket as a war criminal,” says Jojo Mehta of the Stop Ecocide campaign.
This month a panel of top international and environmental lawyers from around the world begin drafting a legal definition of ecocide, with the goal of having it included on the statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague in the coming years.
The Independent 16/12/2020
International lawyers are drafting plans for a legally enforceable crime of ecocide – criminalising destruction of the world’s ecosystems – that is already attracting support from European countries and island nations at risk from rising sea levels. The aim is to draw up a legal definition of “ecocide” that would complement other existing international offences such as crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide.
The Guardian 30/11/2020
A panel of leading lawyers has been set up to draft a legal definition of ’ecocide’ as a potential international crime that could sit alongside war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.
The concept would criminalise mass damage and destruction of the world’s ecosystems and could ultimately see individuals prosecuted before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
The Law Gazette 30/11/2020
Philippe Sands is working on a definition of “ecocide” as a potential international crime...
He was recently appointed co-chair of a panel convened by the Stop Ecocide Foundation to draft a legal definition of “ecocide” as a potential international crime. “The function of law, in part, is to change consciousness, and the absence of any international crime concerning massive damage to the environment basically sends a signal that it’s OK to do that,” says Sands. “I have kids and I want to do my bit for future generations.”
The Times 26/11/2020
Trouw - 26/11/2020
Interview with Jojo Mehta. Article in Dutch.
Le Monde - 24/11/2020
Article in French here.
Radio Ecoshock - 18/11/2020
Interview with Pella Thiel - “The Collapse of Meaning”.
From the Pope to Greta Thunberg, there are growing calls for the crime of “ecocide” to be recognised in international criminal law – but could such a law ever work? Co-founder Jojo Mehta is interviewed by Sophie Yeo.
BBC Future Planet 06/11/20
As WWF reveals over two thirds of global wildlife populations lost in the last 50yrs & David Attenborough talks about mass extinction on the BBC, the Guardian publishes a timely feature on the Stop Ecocide campaign.
The Guardian 16/09/20
Greta Thunberg awarded first Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity and donates €100K to the Stop Ecocide Foundation.
The Ecologist 24/7/20
Incorporating ecocide into French law. President Macron 'shares ambition' to establish international crime of ecocide.
The Ecologist 24/7/20
Greta Thunberg, Malala Yousafzai and stars demand new crime of ‘ecocide’
The Times 17/7/20
“Could ecocide become an international crime?” - Ben Cooke.
New Statesman March 2020
“Our world is burning. An ecocide law could help to douse the flames” - Kirsty Brimelow.
“Vulnerable Nations Call for Ecocide to Be Recognized As an International Crime” - Isabella Kaminski
Climate Liability News Dec 2019
“Politicians And CEOs Could Face Criminal Charges For Environmental Destruction. It's called "ecocide" and even the pope is talking about it. - Gloria Dickie
Huff Post Dec 2019
“Vanuatu calls for International Criminal Court to seriously consider recognizing crime of ecocide.” - Marianne Brooker
The Ecologist, Dec 2019
“Ecocide as an atrocity crime - an idea whose time is long overdue” - Jojo Mehta
Justiceinfo.net Dec 2019
Pope Francis called on the international community to recognize ecocide as a “fifth category of crime against peace.”
By Junno Arocho Esteves
Catholic News Service Nov 2019
Pope Francis has called on the international community to recognize ecocide as a “fifth category of crime against peace", referencing the definition submitted to the UN by Polly Higgins.
Agensir.it Nov 2019
What would the world look like if ecocide was law? Text by Jojo Mehta and Talia Woodin
Huck Magazine Oct 2019
Lawyers Rebel Against 'Abject Failure' of Legal System to Prevent Climate Crisis - Isabella Kaminski
DeSmog, Oct 2019
“Imagine Jair Bolsonaro Standing Trial for Ecocide at The Hague” - Ernesto Londono
New York Times Sept 2019
Ecocide Should Be Recognized as a Crime Against Humanity, but We Can’t Wait for The Hague to Judge - Natasha Lennard
The Intercept Sept 2019