By: Samantha Blakeman
What is Ecocide?
Ecocide is known as “mass environmental destruction” or “killing the environment.”[i] There has been a massive push amongst environmentalists to make ecocide an international crime, which would put it in the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC).[ii] Despite climate change and environmental protection becoming a hot button issue in recent years, ecocide is not a new idea and is almost 50 years old, born out of the U.S. government’s spraying of Agent Orange in the Vietnam War.[iii]
How Does Ecocide as an International Crime Look?
Experts have spent six months working on the proposed definition of ecocide to submit to the ICC.[iv] The proposed definition 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 caused by those acts.”[v]
Ecocide, if approved by the ICC, would be added to the four existing international crimes within the court’s jurisdiction: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes of aggression.[vi] With ecocide, though there is no requirement for human harm to take place for the ICC to prosecute the crime.[vii] Without ecocide, there are very few protections for the environment during times of peace.[viii]
In order for the proposal of ecocide to be approved by the ICC, a two-thirds majority is required, which would be 82 countries.[ix] If the ICC adopts ecocide as an international crime by, it would become an arrestable offense.[x] Ecocide prosecutions could even lead to imprisonment of high-ranking leaders in our country.[xi] Countries that vote to ratify the law will be able to arrest “non-nationals on their own soil for ecocide crimes committed elsewhere.”[xii]
Why the Push for an International Crime?
Advocates are calling for an international crime because our planet needs our help now more than ever.[xiii] Climate change is becoming a rapid force that is destroying how human life has been able to survive for centuries. [xiv] Many animals and amphibians are becoming close to extinction due to ecocide.[xv] As stated by John Licht, the ambassador of Vanuatu, an island threatened by rising sea levels and extreme weather due to climate change, “our lives are intertwined by the environment we live in.”[xvi]
Adding ecocide to the existing international crimes could create awareness that ecocide is an issue and our planet needs our help. Jojo Mehta, the co-founder of the Stop Ecocide campaign, argues that because we draw moral lines at crimes, by making ecocide a crime, we can “shift the cultural mindset” when it comes to environmental destruction.[xvii]
The Need for More than an International Crime
Ecocide as an international crime is extremely important and an excellent starting point for environmental change. However, this ratification and amendment process could take many decades, when change is imperative for our planet sooner rather than later.[xviii] Many advocates believe that ecocide should just apply to the most severe environmental crimes such as oil spills and deep-sea mining.[xix] This could leave more minor crimes unchecked; however, ecocide could provide a deterrent to corporations due to not wanting to be labeled an international criminal.[xx]
This is not to say that adding ecocide to the rank of international crimes is useless because it could be a beneficial source for prosecuting individuals engaging in environmental destruction.[xxi] For example, if ecocide was already in place as an international crime, Jair Bolsonaro, Brazilian president, could have been held responsible for the attack on the Amazon rainforest.[xxii]
The biggest issue when it comes to ecocide as an international crime is that international criminal law only applies to individuals, which means that the ICC cannor prosecute for ecocide.[xxiii] We need to push for more localized prosecutions and laws against corporations so that we prevent them from replacing their executives and rebranding after prosecution by the ICC and going about their business.
Another significant issue is that the world’s top four polluters, China, United States, Russia, and India, are not members of the ICC.[xxiv] However if a corporation from one of these countries was operating in a country that is a member, that corporation’s executives could fall within the jurisdiction of the ICC.[xxv] This could be a way for corporations in these countries to take their actions abroad more seriously in order to avoid international prosecution.[xxvi] It also remains to be seen that potentially not environmental destruction will be prosecuted due to the economic and social benefits that come from it.[xxvii] Overall, adding ecocide to the rank of international crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC is a step towards change for the environment, but it is not a saving grace for the planet.
[i] Josie Fischels, How 165 Words Could Make Mass Environmental Destruction An International Crime, Nat’l Pub. Radio (June 27, 2021, 8:00 AM) https://www.npr.org/2021/06/27/1010402568/ecocide-environment-destruction-international-crime-criminal-court [https://perma.cc/WN6C-9ACK]; Sophie Yeo, Ecocide: Should killing nature be crime?, British Broadcasting Corp. (Nov. 5, 2020) https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20201105-what-is-ecocide [https://perma.cc/9F3A-PKVG].
[ii] Heather Alberro & Luigi Daniele, Ecocide: Why Establishing New International Crime Would be Step Towards Interspecies Justice, The Conversation (June 29, 2021, 10:27 AM), https://theconversation.com/ecocide-why-establishing-a-new-international-crime-would-be-a-step-towards-interspecies-justice-162059 [https://perma.cc/U69X-678Q].
[iii] Sean Fleming, What’s ecocide and could it be prosecuted?, Green Biz (July 12, 2021) https://www.greenbiz.com/article/whats-ecocide-and-could-it-be-prosecuted [https://perma.cc/B4AL-6GFM]; Nicholas Kusnetz, Katie Surma, & Yuliya Talmazan, ‘Ecocide’ movement pushes for new international crime: Environmental destruction, Nati’l Broadcasting Company News (April 7, 2021 5:00 AM) https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/ecocide-movement-pushes-new-international-crime-environmental-destruction-n1263142 [https://perma.cc/NP5Z-WJ49]; Alberro, supra note i.
[iv] Fischels, supra note i.
[v] Id.; Alberro, supra note ii; Fleming, supra note iv; Haroon Siddique, Legal Experts Worldwide Draw up ‘Historic’ Definition Ecocide, The Guardian (June 22, 2021, 12:00PM) https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/22/legal-experts-worldwide-draw-up-historic-definition-of-ecocide [https://perma.cc/79H3-K9FC].
[vi] Fischels, supra note i; Fleming, supra note iv.
[vii] Fischels, supra note i.
[viii] Kusnetz, supra note iv.
[ix] Yeo, supra note i.
[x] Fleming, supra note iv.
[xi] Kusnetz, supra note iv.
[xii] Fischels, supra note i.
[xiii] See Kusnetz, supra note iv.
[xiv] Id.
[xv] Id.
[xvi] Id.
[xvii] Yeo, supra note i.
[xviii] Fischels, supra note i.
[xix] Yeo, supra note i.
[xx] Kusnetz, supra note iv.
[xxi] See Alberro, supra note ii.
[xxii] Id.
[xxiii] Yeo, supra note i.
[xxiv] Kusnetz, supra note iv.
[xxv] Id.
[xxvi] See Id.
[xxvii] Alberro, supra note ii.