Is ecocide a crime?

Mass environmental destruction, known as ecocide, would become an international crime similar to genocide and war crimes under a proposed new legal definition. These crimes are dealt with by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

What is an example of ecocide?

Among current examples of ecocide are the Alberta tar sands, Amazonian logging, oceanic plastic pollution, damage from oil extraction in the Niger Delta, the Bingham Canyon copper mine in Utah and so on, along with more dispersed problems such as polluted waters, which Higgins claims ‘account for the death of more …

What ecocide means?

Broadly defined, ecocide means mass damage or destruction to ecosystems, committed with knowledge of the risks.. In other words, serious harm to the natural living world.

Why is ecocide an issue in Australia?

Ecocide is a crime against the living natural world – ecosystem loss, damage or destruction is occurring every day; for instance, the Athabasca Tar Sands. Ecocide is a crime against the Earth, not just humans. Further, ecocide can also be climate crime: dangerous industrial activity causes climate ecocide.

Where is ecocide a crime?

Several small island nations, including Vanuatu, in the Pacific, and the Maldives, in the Indian Ocean, called for “serious consideration” of a crime of ecocide at the ICC’s annual assembly of states parties in 2019.

What happened to Polly Higgins?

Polly was diagnosed with late stage lung cancer in March 2019. She passed away peacefully just a month later on Easter Sunday 21st April. Her warmth, determination and positivity remained undimmed to the end, and she lived to see her call to Stop Ecocide taken to the streets by Extinction Rebellion.

Is deforestation an ecocide?

The term “ecocide” was coined by bioethicist Arthur Galston in the 1970s to refer to intentional destruction of a specific environment. The deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, a global biodiversity hotspot, is another example of ecocide.

Is ecocide a word?

Ecocide literally means ‘to kill the environment’. Ecocide, therefore, is a crime against ecosystems. It could be used to refer to any human activity that substantially damages or destroys the environment.

What is being harmed by ecocide?

Ecocide is the extensive damage to, destruction of or loss of ecosystem(s) of a given territory, whether by human agency or by other causes, to such an extent that peaceful enjoyment by the inhabitants of that territory has been severely diminished. This is the basis of the proposed amendment to the Rome Statute.

What do you call people who destroy the environment?

The proposed definition of ecocide is “unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts”.

What is the ecocide hypothesis?

One of them is the ecocide hypothesis, stating that the population once suffered a big collapse because they overexploited the natural resources on the island. The other hypothesis is that a collapse occurred after the Europeans came to the island.

Who are the lawyers on the ecocide panel?

International lawyers Philippe Sands QC and Dior Fall Sow are co-chairing an expert drafting panel on the legal definition of “ecocide” as a potential international crime that could sit alongside War Crimes, Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity.

What do you need to know about ecocide law?

A comprehensive resource hub providing a regularly updated collection of academic and legal material relating to “ecocide” law, including definition (s), history, research articles, existing laws and related topics.

How is a global ecocide law could hold polluters accountable?

ICC laws have influenced national policies before: several countries, including Germany and the Netherlands, have adopted national laws that criminalize ICC crimes. The third way an ecocide law could be useful is by prosecuting environmental crimes that fall outside of national jurisdictions.

When did ecocide become a crime against peace?

The proposal for the crime of ecocide was submitted to the United Nations by a private party. In March 2010, British “earth lawyer” Polly Higgins submitted to the United Nations an amendment to the Rome Statute, proposing that “ecocide” be legally recognized as the fifth international Crime against peace.