Pacific Islands Submit Court Proposal For Recognition of Ecocide As a Crime

Vanuatu, Fiji, and Samoa have proposed a change to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to recognize ecocide as a crime, allowing for the prosecution of individuals responsible for significant environmental harm. If successful, the change would recognize ecocide as a crime alongside genocide and war crimes. The Guardian reports: Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa have proposed a formal recognition by the court of the crime of ecocide, defined 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.' The proposal was tabled before the ICC in New York on Monday afternoon, and will have to be discussed in full at a later date. Holding full discussions on the proposal is a process likely to take some years, and will face fierce opposition, though much of it will be behind the scenes as most countries will not wish to openly speak out against it.

Philippe Sands KC, a prominent international lawyer and professor of law at University College London, acted as a co-chair of the independent expert panel for the legal definition of ecocide, convened by the Stop Ecocide Foundation. He told the Guardian he was '100% certain' that ecocide would eventually be recognized by the court. 'The only question is when,' he said. 'I was skeptical at first, but now I am a true believer. There has already been real change, as some countries have put it in domestic law. I think this is the right idea at the right time.' Belgium recently adopted ecocide as a crime, and the EU has changed some of its guidance on international crime to include it as a 'qualified' offense. Mexico is also considering such a law.

Getting to the point where the ICC will consider the proposal has taken years. Stop Ecocide International has been campaigning on the issue since 2017, and Vanuatu made the first call for the crime to be recognized by the ICC in 2019. Although it could take as long as a decade from now before anyone is charged with ecocide even if the changes were implemented by the ICC, the proposal tabled on Monday was vital to gaining broader acceptance of the concept, according to [Jojo Mehta, a co-founder of the Stop Ecocide International campaigning group, which is an observer to the ICC]. 'There has been growing progress, as people are increasingly aware of the threat of climate [breakdown],' she said. 'People are saying that this much harm to the planet is just not acceptable.'

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