Panel of international lawyers begin work on a legal definition of 'ecocide'

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is currently responsible for investigating and, where warranted, trying individuals charged with graves crimes against peace which are of concern to the international community, namely: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. A panel of international and environment lawyers, co-chaired by Justice Florence Mumba, a Zambian judge at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, and Phillipe Sands QC, a British and French barrister in Matrix Chambers, which is renowned for its expertise in civil liberties and human rights, has been established to draft a legal definition of 'ecocide' as a potential fifth crime to be included within the ICC's jurisdiction. Ecocide in lay generic terms may be defined as the intentional or negligent destruction of the natural environment.

This project has been convened by the UK-based charity organisation, Stop Ecocide Foundation. The panel of lawyers in charge of this effort began preparatory work earlier this month and is expected to draft a legal definition for ecocide over the first few months of 2021. The approach taken by the panel is reportedly one which draws on existing approaches to crimes against humanity to maintain consistency. It is interesting to note that early iterations of the Rome Statute, which is the ICC's founding document, originally included a law against ecocide. However, this was ultimately removed at a later stage in the drafting process.

If this effort is successful and the resulting definition is accepted, the panel hopes it would then be inserted by way of an amendment into the Rome Statute. Consequently, mass damage and destruction of the world's ecosystems would be criminalised, and we could see individuals being prosecuted for 'ecocide' before the ICC in The Hague. However, as things stand, this hypothetical success would not be universal as not all countries are ICC members. Some notable exceptions include India, the US, and China.

At the ICC's annual assembly of states in December 2019, many small island nations, including the Pacific island of Vanuatu, called for ecocide to be seriously considered an international crime on the same level as genocide. France and Belgium have supported this notion. The ICC has notably made past promises to challenge perpetrators of ecocide. This is not an isolated sentiment as there are ongoing civil suits against the biggest fossil fuel companies over the industry's hand in global warming.

Legal structures and schemes at present do not adequately address the increasing problem of environmental destruction. International criminal laws in this regard might assist in bridging this gap. The trickiest part will be to develop an appropriate legal definition for ecocide, which highlights how important and ambitious this effort is. However, even with the best minds at work, it will be a real challenge to formulate an effective, sustainable, and practical definition of ecocide, which would call for an amendment into the Rome Statute and thus be recognised as an international crime.