Shouldn’t crimes against nature have the same judicial status as genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggression? Absolutely, says the movement that wants to put an end to ecocide, and adds: “It is starting to happen!”

The past year has been tumultuous, says ecologist Pella Thiel. Suston meets her at her farm in Ingarö outside of Stockholm. The newborn lambs graze in the grass. While the farm requires a lot of work, another task takes up most of Pella Thiel’s time: Spreading the concept of Ecocide and Earth law. She is one of the founders of End Ecocide Sweden, which is part of the international network Stop Ecocide International. In the past year, she has been co-writer of a book about the rights of nature and participated in countless presentations, meetings, and workshops.

“I have been involved in this since 2012. For a long time, many people we spoke to thought that we were either naive or far too radical. But a couple of years ago, the wind started to turn. Even newspapers such as the Financial Times and Le Monde drew attention to our work to equate Ecocide with Genocide. And in the last year, politicians have finally woken up.”

Urgency behind renewed engagement

Ecocide means mass damage and destruction of ecosystems. The term was mentioned for the first time during the UN’s first international environmental conference, the Stockholm Conference, in 1972. Sweden’s Prime Minister at the time, Olof Palme, named large-scale environmental destruction as ecocide in his welcome speech. When the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court was established in the 90s, ecocide was close to becoming one of the international crimes, along with genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggression. But ecocide was deleted in the last minute. Recently, however, the issue has gained momentum once again as more and more people and organizations have taken up the fight to make ecocide the fifth international crime.

“The situation for the ecosystems is very acute. And when we destroy habitats, this also leads to war and conflict. Making ecocide a crime is thus also a way of trying to prevent the other four crimes,” says Pella Thiel.

Legal procedures step by step

For ecocide to become an international crime, it needs to be added to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Currently, 123 states have ratified the Rome Statute, with notable countries that are not signatories including the US, India, and China. At least one of the States Parties needs to propose an amendment, such as adding ecocide, to the statute.

While formal proposal has not happened yet, several States Parties have already shown their support for the issue. Vanuatu and the Maldives already in 2019 called in for consideration of making ecocide the fifth crime. The following year, Belgium was the first European country to raise the issue of ecocide in the International Criminal Court.

Once an amendment is formally proposed and accepted for discussion, negotiation will take place in the ICC’s working group on amendments, and ultimately two-thirds of the States Parties are required to be in favor for ecocide to become the fifth crime.

The more countries that ratify ecocide as the fifth international crime, the smaller the opportunities would be for the companies that are guilty of large-scale environmental destruction. The law would enable the prosecution of those responsible for decisions or actions leading to large-scale environmental destruction.

“These companies and banks have no accountability today. If, for example, they invest in deforestation, they could potentially be fined, but if it is an international crime, it means that the person responsible for decisions that potentially involve ecocide can be brought to trial. And nobody wants that. Suddenly, the risk analysis for companies is completely different,” says Pella Thiel.

International grassroots movement

Stop Ecocide International currently drives the global conversation on ecocide law, including speaking at international conferences and with governments worldwide. They also collaborate with, among others, politicians, diplomats, lawyers, business leaders, indigenous peoples, and religious groups to make ecocide an international crime.

“I think we are already at the point where no government will want to be seen saying no to it. They might want to sidestep, they might want to wait, they might want to talk about it, but they are not going to say that they don’t want this. Because that will look really bad. So, as long as the conversation stays in the public domain, it is actually in some ways the easiest campaign in the world. It is very hard to argue with,” says Jojo Mehta, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Stop Ecocide International.

EU can play a key role

More and more countries have, via motions or full proposals of law, opened to criminalizing ecocide. At the end of March 2023, the EU Parliament announced its support for the inclusion of ecocide in the EU’s revised environmental crime directive. In order for it to be established in European legislation, the European Council and the European Commission also need to support the directive.

If this legislation becomes a reality, ecocide will be counted as a crime in all EU countries. That will probably also speed up the process in the International Criminal Court since EU countries make up more than 20 percent of the member states.

“We have a strong faith that within the next couple of years, this will be a concrete conversation at the International Criminal Court. It is entirely possible that this could be adopted within the next five years, certainly before 2030. People are so aware of the urgency of the situation that it is highly unlikely that the negotiating of the text takes more than a couple of years,” says Jojo Mehta.

For Pella Thiel, Jojo Mehta and Stop Ecocide International, the work continues to enlighten politicians on the issue and get governments around the world to stand behind a new international legislation. On the farm at Ingarö, Pella Thiel looks out over the sheep pen and the open, vivid landscape that surrounds it. A beautiful setting, so different to the reality at many other places.

“For many people, for many forests and for many species, it is already too late. But the longer we wait, the more it will be too late for. We often think we have tried everything, but we have not. Making ecocide an international crime is both very powerful and within reach. It is not difficult at all.”

 

 

Photo: Stop Ecocide International