Ecocide#Genocide

The Independent Expert Panel for the Legal Definition of Ecocide, convened by Stop Ecocide Foundation describes 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 being caused by those acts".

Ecocide may occur with or without intent. Environmental lawyer Polly Higgins distinguishes between ascertainable and non-ascertainable ecocide, with the former having a clear human cause while the latter does not. An example of non-ascertainable ecocide is destruction due to extreme weather events related to climate change.

Arthur H. Westing discussed the element of intent in relation to ecocide, stating that "Intent may not only be impossible to establish without admission but, I believe, it is essentially irrelevant."{{cite journal |last=Westing |first=Arthur H. |date=January 1974 |title=Proscription of Ecocide |journal=Science and Public Affairs}}

Ecocide can threaten a people's cultural and physical existence, and several studies have shown that ecocide has genocidal dimensions.{{Cite journal |last1=Crook |first1=Martin |last2=Short |first2=Damien |date=2014-04-03 |title=Marx, Lemkin and the genocide–ecocide nexus |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13642987.2014.914703 |journal=The International Journal of Human Rights |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=300 |doi=10.1080/13642987.2014.914703 |issn=1364-2987}} Destruction of the natural environment can result in cultural genocide by preventing people from following their traditional way of life. This is especially true for Indigenous people. Ecocide resulting from climate change and resource extraction may become a primary driver of genocide worldwide. Some Indigenous scholars have argued that ecocide and genocide are inextricable. Furthermore, in recent debates the connection between capitalism and ecocide has been subject to discussion. Scholars such as Crook, Short and South have argued that capitalist exploitation further exacerbates the impacts of climate change and subsequently lead to further cases of Ecocide.{{Cite journal |last1=Crook |first1=Martin |last2=Short |first2=Damien |date=2014-04-03 |title=Marx, Lemkin and the genocide–ecocide nexus |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13642987.2014.914703 |journal=The International Journal of Human Rights |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=307 |doi=10.1080/13642987.2014.914703 |issn=1364-2987}} Yet, the relationship between landscape and capitalism and war also has been at times viewed in more ambiguous manners. For example, in the case of the countryside of South Lebanon after the 2006 Lebanon War, Khayyat argues through the concept of "resistant ecology" that while war shapes landscape, landscape also adapts to its impacts to resist devastation through both human and non-human means.{{Cite book |last=Khayyat |first=Munira |title=A landscape of war: ecologies of resistance and survival in South Lebanon |date=2022 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-38999-1 |location=Oakland, California |pages=4–8}}

Mainstream understanding of genocide (as defined by the United Nations) restricts genocide to acts committed against the bodies of individual people. Some genocide researchers argue that this human rights framework does a disservice to colonised Indigenous people who experienced social death with the loss of relationship to their land but who were not always killed in the process of colonisation. An example of such an argument is found in Van Solinge's work on the exploitation of natural resources in parts of the African continent.{{Cite journal |last1=Crook |first1=Martin |last2=Short |first2=Damien |date=2014-04-03 |title=Marx, Lemkin and the genocide–ecocide nexus |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13642987.2014.914703 |journal=The International Journal of Human Rights |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=301 |doi=10.1080/13642987.2014.914703 |issn=1364-2987}}

The ongoing mass extinction of species has been called ecocide.{{Cite book |last=Broswimmer |first=Franz |date=2002 |title=Ecocide: A Short History of the Mass Extinction of Species |url=http://ewa.home.amu.edu.pl/Broswimmer,%20Ecocide.pdf |publisher=Pluto Press |location=London}} US environmental theorist Patrick Hossay argues that modern industrial civilization is ecocidal.{{cite book |last=Hossay |first=Patrick |title=Unsustainable: A Primer for Global Environmental and Social Justice |publisher=Zed Books |year=2006 |isbn=1842776576 |location=United Kingdom}}

Climate change may result in ecocide. For example, ocean acidification and warming causes damage to coral reefs,{{Cite web |title=What is ecocide? {{!}} Kew |url=https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/what-is-ecocide |access-date=30 June 2022 |website= kew.org}}{{Cite web |title=Ecocide: Holding Corporations and Their Officers Criminally Liable |url=https://www.globalpolicyjournal.com/blog/05/05/2022/ecocide-holding-corporations-and-their-officers-criminally-liable |access-date=30 June 2022 |website=Global Policy Journal |date=5 May 2022 |language=en}} although ecocide of coral reefs has also been attributed to causes not related to climate change.{{Cite web |date=9 June 2020 |title=Is Ecocide Inevitable in the World's Most Contested Sea? |url=https://journalism.csis.org/is-ecocide-inevitable-in-the-worlds-most-contested-sea/ |access-date=30 June 2022 |website=CSIS Journalism Bootcamp |language=en-US}} Criminalization of ecocide under the Rome Statute has been proposed as a deterrent to corporations responsible for climate change, although others argue that criminalizing ecocide will not address the root causes of the climate crisis.{{Cite news |date=13 March 2021 |title=Why criminalising ecocide won't solve the climate crisis |url=https://www.euronews.com/green/2021/03/13/why-making-ecocide-a-crime-wont-tackle-root-causes-of-climate-crisis |access-date=30 June 2022 |work=euronews |language=en}}

File:Deforestation central Europe - Rodungen Mitteleuropa.jpg.]]

While ecocide is recognised as a crime in a small number of countries, many examples of environmental destruction have been described as ecocides by academics, journalists, politicians and others.

{{main|Vietnam War}}

File:Defoliation agent spraying.jpgs in the Mekong Delta, South Vietnam, 1969]]

One of the most controversial aspects of the U.S. military effort in Southeast Asia was the widespread use of chemical defoliants between 1961 and 1971. 20 million gallons of toxic herbicides (like Agent Orange) were sprayed on 6 million acres of forests and crops by the U.S. Air Force.{{Cite book |last=Westing |first=Arthur H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4SfwtAEACAAJ |title=Herbicides in War: The Long-term Ecological and Human Consequences |date=1984 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |pages=5ff |language=en}} They were used to defoliate large parts of the countryside to prevent the Viet Cong from being able to hide weaponry and encampments under the foliage, and to deprive them of food. Defoliation was also used to clear sensitive areas, including base perimeters and possible ambush sites along roads and canals. More than 20% of South Vietnam's forests and 3.2% of its cultivated land was sprayed at least once. 90% of herbicide use was directed at forest defoliation.{{Rp|263}} The chemicals used continue to change the landscape, cause diseases and birth defects, and poison the food chain.{{Cite journal |last=Palmer |first=Michael G. |year=2007 |title=The Case of Agent Orange |journal=Contemporary Southeast Asia |volume=29 |pages=172–195 |jstor=25798819 |number=1}}{{Cite journal |last=Stone |first=Richard |year=2007 |title=Agent Orange's Bitter Harvest |journal=Science |volume=315 |issue=5809 |pages=176–179 |doi=10.1126/science.315.5809.176 |jstor=20035179 |pmid=17218503 |s2cid=161597245}}{{Cite news |last=Lynne Peeples |date=10 July 2013 |title=Veterans Sick From Agent Orange-Poisoned Planes Still Seek Justice |work=The Huffington Post |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/10/agent-orange-vietnam-veterans_n_3572598.html |access-date=4 September 2013}} Agent Orange in combination with bombings and poaching by locals for their erroneously valued horns led to the extinction of the Vietnamese Javan rhinoceros, reducing the population to 12 or less individuals in Cát Tiên National Park where the final individual of the subspecies was killed by a poacher in 2010.{{Cite web |date=2019-03-27 |title=Scientists Find Surviving Members of Rhino Species |website=Associated Press News |url=https://apnews.com/c348379a851bbead36991c551c6d6b7a |access-date=2024-11-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327102520/https://apnews.com/c348379a851bbead36991c551c6d6b7a |archive-date=27 March 2019 }}{{Cite news |last=Gersmann |first=Hanna |date=2011-10-25 |title=Javan rhino driven to extinction in Vietnam, conservationists say |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/oct/25/javan-rhino-extinct-vietnam |access-date=2024-11-22 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} The aforementioned ecocides, bombings, and poaching and wildlife trafficking fuelled by the war from locals also furthered the declines of several other native Vietnamese species such as the Indochinese tiger, Asian elephant, Edward's pheasant, northern white-cheeked gibbon, and saola.{{Cite web |title=Joining forces to save Vietnam's species |url=https://vietnamazing.eu/ |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=Vietnamazing |language=en-GB}} Official US military records have listed figures including the destruction of 20% of the jungles of South Vietnam and 20-36% (with other figures reporting 20-50%) of the mangrove forests.{{cite book |last=Fox |first=Diane N. |chapter-url=http://college.holycross.edu/faculty/dnfox/pdf/chemical_politics.pdf |chapter=Chemical Politics and the Hazards of Modern Warfare: Agent Orange |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100727144516/http://college.holycross.edu/faculty/dnfox/pdf/chemical_politics.pdf |archive-date=27 July 2010 |title=Synthetic Planet: Chemical Politics and the Hazards of Modern Life |editor-first=Monica J. |editor-last=Casper |date=2003 |publisher=Routledge}} The environmental destruction caused by this defoliation has been described by Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, lawyers, historians and other academics as an ecocide.{{Cite book |last=Zierler |first=David |title=The invention of ecocide: agent orange, Vietnam, and the scientists who changed the way we think about the environment |date=2011 |publisher=University of Georgia Press |isbn=978-0-8203-3827-9 |location=Athens, Ga.}}{{Cite web |date=18 December 2022 |title=How Imperative Is It To Consider Ecocide As An International Crime? |url=https://www.ijllr.com/post/how-imperative-is-it-to-consider-ecocide-as-an-international-crime |access-date=21 June 2023 |website=IJLLR |language=en}}{{Cite journal |last=Falk |first=Richard A. |date=1973 |title=Environmental Warfare and Ecocide — Facts, Appraisal, and Proposals |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44480206 |journal=Bulletin of Peace Proposals |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=80–96 |doi=10.1177/096701067300400105 |issn=0007-5035 |jstor=44480206 |s2cid=144885326|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite web |date=17 February 2022 |title=Industrial disasters from Bhopal to present day: why the proposal to make 'ecocide' an international offence is persuasive – The Leaflet |url=https://theleaflet.in/industrial-disasters-from-bhopal-to-present-day-why-the-proposal-to-make-ecocide-an-international-offence-is-persuasive/ |access-date=21 June 2023 |website=theleaflet.in |language=en-US}}{{Cite SSRN |last=Giovanni |first=Chiarini |date=1 April 2022 |title=Ecocide: From the Vietnam War to International Criminal Jurisdiction? Procedural Issues In-Between Environmental Science, Climate Change, and Law |language=en |ssrn=4072727}}{{Cite news |date=7 April 2021 |title='Ecocide' movement pushes for a new international crime: Environmental destruction |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/ecocide-movement-pushes-new-international-crime-environmental-destruction-n1263142 |access-date=21 June 2023 |work=NBC News |language=en}}

{{main|Environmental impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine}}

File:Kakhovka dam destruction1.gif]]

Based on a preliminary assessment the Russian invasion of Ukraine has inflicted USD 51 billion in environmental damage in both territories. According to a report by the Yale School of the Environment, some 687,000 tons of petrochemicals have burned as a result of shelling, while nearly 1,600 tons of pollutants have leaked into bodies of water. Hazardous chemicals have contaminated around 70 acres of soil, and likely made agricultural activities temporarily impossible.{{cite web |url=https://e360.yale.edu/digest/russia-ukraine-war-environmental-cost-one-year |title=One Year In, Russia's War on Ukraine Has Inflicted $51 Billion in Environmental Damage |website=e360.yale.edu |publisher=Yale University |date=22 February 2023 |access-date=30 April 2023}} Around 30% of Ukraine's land is now littered with explosives and more than 2.4 million hectares of forest have been damaged.{{Cite web |last= |title='Environmental Destruction Is a Form of Warfare': Thunberg Joins Ecocide Investigation in Ukraine |url=https://www.commondreams.org/news/thunberg-joins-group-to-investigate-ecocide-in-ukraine |access-date=3 July 2023 |website=Common Dreams |language=en}}

According to Netherlands-based peace organization PAX, Russia's "deliberate targeting of industrial and energy infrastructure" has caused "severe" pollution, and the use of explosive weapons has left "millions of tonnes" of contaminated debris in cities and towns.{{cite web |url=https://paxforpeace.nl/news/overview/ten-step-plan-to-address-environmental-impact-of-war-in-ukraine |title=Ten-Step plan to address environmental impact of war in Ukraine |website=PAX for Peace |date=24 February 2023 |access-date=30 April 2023}} In early June 2023, the Kakhovka Dam, under Russian occupation, was damaged, causing flooding and triggering warnings of an ″ecological disaster.″{{cite news |last1=Talmazan |first1=Yuliya |last2=Arkin |first2=Daniel |last3=Kaufman |first3=Sarah |last4=Mayer |first4=Daryna |date=6 June 2023 |title=Ukraine accuses Russia of blowing up major dam |work=NBC News |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/kakhovka-dam-ukraine-russia-destroyed-rcna87852 |access-date=7 June 2023}}

The Ukrainian government, international observers and journalists have described the damage as ecocide.{{Cite web |date=2 June 2023 |title=The Environmental Cost of the War in Ukraine |url=https://www.irreview.org/articles/the-environmental-cost-of-the-war-in-ukraine |access-date=7 June 2023 |website=International Relations Review |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |last=Graham-Harrison |first=Emma |date=27 August 2022 |title=Toxins in soil, blasted forests – Ukraine counts cost of Putin's 'ecocide' |language=en-GB |work=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/27/destroyed-nature-ukrainians-race-to-gather-evidence-of-putins-ecocide |access-date=7 June 2023 |issn=0029-7712}}{{Cite news |last=Qazi |first=Shereena |title='An Ecocide': How the conflict in Ukraine is bombarding the environment |url=https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/an-ecocide-how-the-conflict-in-ukraine-is-bombarding-the-environment-56730 |access-date=19 June 2024 |work=TRT World}}{{Cite news |date=19 March 2022 |title=Ukrainians hope to rebuild greener country after Russia's war causes 'ecocide' |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/ukraine-green-ecocide-russia-war-b2038825.html |access-date=7 June 2023}} The Ukrainian government is investigating more than 200 war crimes against the environment and 15 incidents of ecocide (a crime in Ukraine).{{Cite web |date=30 June 2023 |title=Ukraine Recap: Zelenskiy Decries 'Ecocide' Brought on by War - BNN Bloomberg |url=https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/ukraine-recap-zelenskiy-decries-ecocide-brought-on-by-war-1.1939926 |access-date=3 July 2023 |website=BNN}}{{Cite news |last=Ragozin |first=Leonid |date=16 March 2019 |title=Annexation of Crimea: A masterclass in political manipulation |publisher=Al Jazeera |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2019/3/16/annexation-of-crimea-a-masterclass-in-political-manipulation |url-status=live |access-date=24 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107230534/https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2019/3/16/annexation-of-crimea-a-masterclass-in-political-manipulation/ |archive-date=7 November 2020}}{{Cite web |title=Will Kakhovka Dam destruction make 'ecocide' a global crime? |url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/ukraine-war-kakhovka-dam-ecocide-international-law/ |access-date=3 July 2023 |website=openDemocracy |language=en}} Zelenskyy and Ukraine's prosecutor general Andriy Kostin have met with prominent European figures (Margot Wallstrom, Heidi Hautala, Mary Robinson and Greta Thunberg) to discuss the environmental damage and how to prosecute it.{{Cite news |last=Gigova |first=Radina |date=2 July 2023 |title=Russia is accused of 'ecocide' in Ukraine. But what does that mean? |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/02/world/ukraine-ecocide-dam-collapse-crime-climate-intl-cmd/index.html |access-date=3 July 2023 |work=CNN |language=en}}{{Cite news |agency=Press Association |date=29 June 2023 |title=Zelenskyy meets Greta Thunberg, Mary Robinson to address war's effect on Ukraine's ecology |url=https://www.thejournal.ie/zelenskyy-greta-thunberg-6106147-Jun2023/ |access-date=3 July 2023 |work=TheJournal.ie |language=en}}

{{main|Deforestation in Indonesia}}

File:Riau palm oil 2007.jpg plantation (2007)]]

Indonesia has one of the world's fastest deforestation rates.{{cite news |title=Selling Out West Papua {{!}} 101 East |date=25 June 2020 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBbVu1ZOpYY&t=114s |publisher=Al Jazeera |language=en}}{{cite journal |last1=Limaho |first1=Handoko |author2=Sugiarto |last3=Pramono |first3=Rudy |last4=Christiawan |first4=Rio |date=14 July 2022 |title=The Need for Global Green Marketing for the Palm Oil Industry in Indonesia |journal=Sustainability |volume=14 |issue=14 |page=8621 |doi=10.3390/su14148621 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2022Sust...14.8621L }} In 2020, forests covered approximately 49.1% of the country's land area,{{cite web |title=Forest area (% of land area) – Indonesia |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.LND.FRST.ZS?locations=ID |access-date=14 June 2021 |publisher=World Bank}} down from 87% in 1950.{{cite journal |last1=Tsujino |first1=Riyou |last2=Yumoto |first2=Takakazu |last3=Kitamura |first3=Shumpei |last4=Djamaluddin |first4=Ibrahim |last5=Darnaedi |first5=Dedy |date=November 2016 |title=History of forest loss and degradation in Indonesia |journal=Land Use Policy |volume=57 |pages=335–347 |doi=10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.05.034 |bibcode=2016LUPol..57..335T}} Since the 1970s, log production, various plantations and agriculture have been responsible for much of the deforestation in Indonesia. Most recently, it has been driven by the palm oil industry,{{cite journal |last1=Austin |first1=Kemen G |last2=Schwantes |first2=Amanda |last3=Gu |first3=Yaofeng |last4=Kasibhatla |first4=Prasad D |date=1 February 2019 |title=What causes deforestation in Indonesia? |journal=Environmental Research Letters |volume=14 |issue=2 |page=024007 |bibcode=2019ERL....14b4007A |doi=10.1088/1748-9326/aaf6db |doi-access=free}} which has been criticised for its environmental impact and displacement of local communities.{{cite web |last1=Colchester |first1=Marcus |last2=Jiwan |first2=Normal |last3=Andiko |first3=Martua Sirait |last4=Firdaus |first4=Asup Y. |last5=Surambo |first5=A. |last6=Pane |first6=Herbert |date=26 March 2012 |title=Palm Oil and Land Acquisition in Indonesia: Implications for Local Communities and Indigenous People |url=http://mekongdmp.net/data/Resourcespapers/filepdf/PromisedLand.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531005507/http://mekongdmp.net/data/Resourcespapers/filepdf/PromisedLand.pdf |archive-date=31 May 2012 |access-date=31 May 2012}} The widespread deforestation (and other environmental destruction) in Indonesia is often described by academics as an ecocide.{{Cite web |title=Ecocide in Indonesia |url=https://forensic-architecture.org/investigation/ecocide-in-indonesia |access-date=5 July 2023 |website=Forensic Architecture}}{{Cite web |last= |date=4 August 2022 |title=Explainer: What is ecocide? |url=https://www.eco-business.com/news/explainer-what-is-ecocide/ |access-date=5 July 2023 |website=Eco-Business |language=en}}{{Citation |last1=Aida |first1=Melly |title=Ecocide in the International Law: Integration Between Environmental Rights and International Crime and Its Implementation in Indonesia |date=2023 |work=Proceedings of the 3rd Universitas Lampung International Conference on Social Sciences (ULICoSS 2022) |volume=740 |pages=572–584 |editor-last=Perdana |editor-first=Ryzal |place=Paris |publisher=Atlantis Press SARL |language=en |doi=10.2991/978-2-38476-046-6_57 |isbn=978-2-38476-045-9 |last2=Tahar |first2=Abdul Muthalib |last3=Davey |first3=Orima |series=Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research |editor2-last=Putrawan |editor2-first=Gede Eka |editor3-last=Saputra |editor3-first=Bayu |editor4-last=Septiawan |editor4-first=Trio Yuda |doi-access=free}}{{Cite web |last1=Alberro |first1=Heather |last2=Daniele |first2=Luigi |date=29 June 2021 |title=Ecocide: why establishing a new international crime would be a step towards interspecies justice |url=http://theconversation.com/ecocide-why-establishing-a-new-international-crime-would-be-a-step-towards-interspecies-justice-162059 |access-date=5 July 2023 |website=The Conversation |language=en}}{{Cite journal |last1=Setiyono |first1=Joko |last2=Natalis |first2=Aga |date=30 December 2021 |title=Ecocides as a Serious Human Rights Violation: A Study on the Case of River Pollution by the Palm Oil Industry in Indonesia |journal=International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning |language=en |volume=16 |issue=8 |pages=1465–1471 |doi=10.18280/ijsdp.160807 |s2cid=245606762 |issn=1743-7601 |doi-access=free}} The situation has made Indonesia the world's largest forest-based emitter of greenhouse gases.{{cite journal |last1=Chrysolite |first1=Hanny |last2=Juliane |first2=Reidinar |last3=Chitra |first3=Josefhine |last4=Ge |first4=Mengpin |date=4 October 2017 |title=Evaluating Indonesia's Progress on its Climate Commitments |url=http://www.wri.org/blog/2017/10/evaluating-indonesias-progress-its-climate-commitments |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171005000659/http://www.wri.org/blog/2017/10/evaluating-indonesias-progress-its-climate-commitments |archive-date=5 October 2017 |access-date=26 August 2018 |website=World Resources Institute}} It also threatens the survival of indigenous and endemic species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) identified 140 species of mammals as threatened and 15 as critically endangered, including the Bali myna,{{cite iucn |title=Leucopsar rothschildi |page=e.T22710912A94267053 |author=BirdLife International |year=2016 |volume=2016 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22710912A94267053.en}} Sumatran orangutan{{cite web |date=12 September 2007 |title=Extinction crisis escalates: Red List shows apes, corals, vultures, dolphins all in danger |url=https://www.iucn.org/content/extinction-crisis-escalates-red-list-shows-apes-corals-vultures-dolphins-all-danger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161016135339/https://www.iucn.org/content/extinction-crisis-escalates-red-list-shows-apes-corals-vultures-dolphins-all-danger |archive-date=16 October 2016 |access-date=16 October 2016 |publisher=International Union for Conservation of Nature}} and Javan rhinoceros.{{Cite iucn |title=Rhinoceros sondaicus |page=e.T19495A8925965 |last1=van Strien |first1=N. J. |date=2008 |volume=2008 |last2=Steinmetz |first2=R.|last3=Manullang |first3=B. |last4=Sectionov |first4=K. H. |last5=Isnan |first5=W. |last6=Rookmaaker |first6=K. |last7=Sumardja |first7=E. |last8=Khan |first8=M. K. M. |last9=Ellis |first9=S. |name-list-style=amp |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T19495A8925965.en}}

{{main|Chernobyl disaster}}

After the disaster, {{convert|4|km2|sqmi|spell=in}} of pine forest directly downwind of the reactor turned reddish-brown and died, earning the name of the "Red Forest".{{cite news |last=Mulvey |first=Stephen |date=20 April 2006 |title=Wildlife defies Chernobyl radiation |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4923342.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171105054818/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4923342.stm |archive-date=5 November 2017 |access-date=8 November 2018 |work=BBC News}} Some animals in the worst-hit areas also died or stopped reproducing. The disaster has been described by lawyers, academics and journalists as an example of ecocide.{{Cite web |date=1 February 2021 |first=Josef |last=Rybacki |title=Establishing the crime of 'ecocide' |url=https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/practice-points/establishing-the-crime-of-ecocide/5107209.article |access-date=21 June 2023 |website=Law Gazette |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Krogh |first=Peter F. |date=1994 |title=Ecocide : a Soviet legacy |url=https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/handle/10822/552539 |access-date=21 June 2023 |website=Great Decisions 1994 |language=English}}{{Cite web |last=Wojsyk |first=Jakub |date=2022-01-12 |title=Ecocide – the genocide of the 21st century? Eastern European perspective |url=https://www.cirsd.org/en/expert-analysis/ecocide-%E2%80%93-the-genocide-of-the-21st-century-eastern-european-perspective |access-date=21 June 2023 |website=CIRSD}}

{{main|Environmental issues in the Niger Delta}}

The effects of oil exploration in the fragile region of Niger Delta communities and environment have been vast. Local indigenous people have seen little improvement in their standard of living while suffering serious damage to their natural environment. Some of the hazardous damage of oil and gas exploration in the ecosystem are life-threatening which includes Air pollution, Water pollution, Noise pollution etc. Affecting the aquatic lives, human health, also leads to deforestation. According to Nigerian federal government figures, there were more than 7,000 oil spills between 1970 and 2000.{{cite news |first=John |last=Vidal |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/may/30/oil-spills-nigeria-niger-delta-shell |title=Nigeria's agony dwarfs the Gulf oil spill. The US and Europe ignore it |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161215203635/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/may/30/oil-spills-nigeria-niger-delta-shell |archive-date=15 December 2016 |work=The Observer |date=30 May 2010}}

It has been estimated that a clean-up of the region, including full restoration of swamps, creeks, fishing grounds and mangroves, could take 25 years.{{cite news |last=Vidal |first=John |date=1 June 2016 |title=Niger delta oil spill clean-up launched – but could take quarter of a century |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/jun/02/niger-delta-oil-spill-clean-up-launched-ogoniland-communities-1bn |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180315200112/https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/jun/02/niger-delta-oil-spill-clean-up-launched-ogoniland-communities-1bn |archive-date=15 March 2018 |access-date=14 March 2018 |work=The Guardian}} The Niger Delta is one of the most polluted regions in the world.{{Cite web |last=Donatus |first=Peter |date=15 October 2016 |title=Shell's Nigeria ecocide is creating a refugee crisis |url=https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/shell%E2%80%99s-nigeria-ecocide-creating-refugee-crisis,%20https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/shell%E2%80%99s-nigeria-ecocide-creating-refugee-crisis |access-date=6 July 2023 |website= greenleft.org.au |language=en}}{{Cite web |last= |date=7 August 2017 |title=UNEP Ogoniland Oil Assessment Reveals Extent of Environmental Contamination and Threats to Human Health |url=http://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/unep-ogoniland-oil-assessment-reveals-extent-environmental-contamination-and |access-date=6 July 2023 |website=United Nations Environment Programme |language=en}} The heavy contamination of the air, ground and water with toxic pollutants is often used as an example of ecocide.{{Cite news |date=7 April 2021 |title='Ecocide' movement pushes for a new international crime: Environmental destruction |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/ecocide-movement-pushes-new-international-crime-environmental-destruction-n1263142 |access-date=6 July 2023 |work=NBC News |language=en |first1=Nicholas |last1=Kusnetz |first2=Katie |last2=Surma |first3=Yuliya |last3=Talmazan}}{{Cite web |title=Fighting ecocide in Nigeria |url=https://theecologist.org/2014/feb/05/fighting-ecocide-nigeria |access-date=6 July 2023 |website=theecologist.org |date=5 February 2014 |language=en |first=Bukola |last=Saraki |author-link=Bukola Saraki}}{{Cite web |title=UNPO: Ogoni: An Ecocide in the Making? |url=https://unpo.org/article/19131 |access-date=6 July 2023 |website=Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization |date=2 November 2009}}{{Cite news |date=22 August 2011 |title=How an ecocide law could prevent another Nigerian oil disaster |first=Robert |last=Holtum |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/aug/22/ecocide-law-nigerian-oil-disaster |access-date=6 July 2023 |issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite web |date=2 June 2023 |title=Spotlighting oil majors' 'ecocide' of Niger Delta: Q&A with Michael J. Watts |url=https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/spotlighting-oil-majors-ecocide-of-niger-delta-qa-with-michael-j-watts/ |access-date=6 July 2023 |website=Mongabay Environmental News |language=en-US}}

{{main|Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest}}

File:Operação_Hymenaea,_Julho-2016_(29399454651).jpg state, Brazil]]

Damage to the Amazon has widely been described by indigenous groups, human rights groups, politicians, academics and journalists as an ecocide and a genocide.{{Cite news |last1=Londoño |first1=Ernesto |date=25 April 2021 |title=Imagine Jair Bolsonaro Standing Trial for Ecocide at The Hague |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/21/sunday-review/bolsonaro-amazon-fire.html |access-date=10 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425160936/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/21/sunday-review/bolsonaro-amazon-fire.html |archive-date=25 April 2021}}{{Cite news |last=Watts |first=Jonathan |date=6 February 2023 |title=Investigate Bolsonaro for genocide, says Brazil's Marina Silva |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/06/investigate-bolsonaro-for-genocide-says-brazils-marina-silva |access-date=10 July 2023 |issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite news |title=Bolsonaro should be investigated by International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity and nature |language=en |date=27 October 2022 |first=Sadhbh |last=O'Neill |newspaper=The Irish Times |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/environment/climate-crisis/2022/10/27/bolsonaro-should-be-investigated-by-international-criminal-court-for-crimes-against-humanity-and-nature/ |access-date=10 July 2023}}{{Cite journal |last=McCartin |first=Matthew J. |date=2022–2023 |title=The Planet v. Bolsonaro: How an International Crime of Ecocide Could Aid in Enforcing the UNFCCC |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/jgro13&id=6&div=&collection= |journal=Journal of Global Rights and Organizations |volume=13 |pages=1}} Indigenous chiefs and human rights organizations have submitted an Article 15 communication against former president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity and genocide for harm to Indigenous people and destruction of the Amazon.{{Cite news |date=11 August 2021 |title=Brazil indigenous group accuses Bolsonaro of 'genocide' and 'ecocide' |first=Samuel |last=Webb |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/brazil-indigenous-icc-bolsonaro-genocide-b1900078.html |access-date=10 July 2023 |work=The Independent |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=4 February 2022 |title=Indigenous Groups Accuse Brazil's Bolsonaro of Genocide, Call on the ICC to Investigate {{!}} Sounds and Colours |url=https://soundsandcolours.com/articles/brazil/indigenous-groups-accuse-brazils-bolsonaro-of-genocide-call-on-the-icc-to-investigate-64683/ |access-date=10 July 2023 |website=soundsandcolours.com |language=en-GB}}{{Cite news |work=Deutsche Welle |title=ICC climate crimes suit filed against Brazil's Bolsonaro |url=https://www.dw.com/en/icc-climate-crimes-suit-filed-against-brazils-bolsonaro/a-59480922 |access-date=10 July 2023 |date=10 December 2021 |language=en |first=Jon |last=Shelton}} Another has been submitted for ecocide by indigenous chiefs.{{Cite news |date=24 June 2021 |title=Chiefs demand Bolsonaro's prosecution, say Amazon close to irreversible destruction |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/bolsonaro-should-be-tried-crimes-against-humanity-indigenous-leaders-say-n1272193 |access-date=10 July 2023 |work=NBC News |first=Katie |last=Surma|language=en}}{{cite web |last1=Albanese |first1=Francesca |title='It Is Important to Call a Genocide a Genocide,' Consider Suspending Israel's Credential as UN Member State, Experts Tell Palestinian Rights Committee |url=https://press.un.org/en/2024/gapal1473.doc.htm |website=United Nations - Meeting Coverage and Press Release |publisher=UN |access-date=27 April 2025}}

{{Excerpt|Environmental impact of the Gaza war}}

There is no international law against ecocide that applies in peacetime, but the Rome Statute makes it a crime to{{blockquote|

Intentionally launch an attack in the knowledge that such attack will cause incidental loss of life or injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects or widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment which would be clearly excessive in relation to the concrete and direct overall military advantage anticipated.[http://www.envirosecurity.org/news/single.php?id=356 Citizen Campaign to End Ecocide in Europe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404195940/http://www.envirosecurity.org/news/single.php?id=356 |date=4 April 2019 }}, Institute for Environmental Security, 22 January 2013}}

The UN's International Law Commission (ILC) considered the inclusion of the crime of ecocide to be included within the Draft Code of Crimes Against the Peace and Security of Mankind, the document which later became the Rome Statute. Article 26 (crime against the environment) was publicly supported by 19 countries in the Legal Committee but was removed due to opposition from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.{{Cite web |last=Sess.: 1986-1987) |first=UN General Assembly (41st |date=20 January 1987 |title=Draft Code of Offences against the Peace and Security of Mankind :: resolution /: adopted by the General Assembly. |url=https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/124973 |language=en}}{{Cite magazine |date=19 February 2021 |title=Lawyers Are Working to Put 'Ecocide' on Par with War Crimes. Could an International Law Hold Major Polluters to Account? |url=https://time.com/5940759/ecocide-law-environment-destruction-icc/ |access-date=5 July 2023 |magazine=Time |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Ecocide is the missing 5th Crime Against Peace |url=https://sas-space.sas.ac.uk/4830/1/Ecocide_research_report_19_July_13.pdf |website=School of Advanced Study, University of London}}

In 1977 the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Prohibition of Military or any other Hostile use of Environmental Modification Technique.[https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=IND&mtdsg_no=XXVI-1&chapter=26&lang=en Convention on the prohibition of military or any other hostile use of environmental modification techniques] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190531033313/https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=IND&mtdsg_no=XXVI-1&chapter=26&lang=en |date=31 May 2019 }}, United nations Treaty Collection Article I of this Convention says, "Each State Party to this Convention undertakes not to engage in military or any other hostile use of environmental modification techniques having widespread, long-lasting or severe effects as the means of destruction, damage or injury to any other State Party." There is no definition of the terms 'widespread, long-lasting or severe'.

In February 2024, the European Parliament adopted a law making large-scale, intentionally caused, environmental damage “comparable to ecocide” a crime that can be punished by up to 10 years in prison. Members of the states of the European Union have two years from that date to incorporate their crime into their national laws.{{cite news |last1=Mølgaard Henriksen |first1=Mette |title='Revolutionary': EU Parliament votes to criminalise most serious cases of ecosystem destruction |url=https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/02/27/revolutionary-eu-criminalises-the-most-serious-cases-of-ecosystem-destruction |access-date=28 February 2024 |agency=Euronews |date=27 February 2024}} As of early 2024, there are growing calls to recognize ecocide as an international crime.{{Cite web |title=Growing calls to recognize 'ecocide' as an international crime in light of Israel-Gaza conflict - EHN |url=https://grist.org/international/israel-gaza-demands-ecocide-international-law/ |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=grist.org |date=26 February 2024 |language=en}}

Efforts to criminalise ecocide have sought to include the crime among those prosecuted by the International Criminal Court established by the Rome Statute. These crimes include genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression.{{cite web |date=23 June 2021 |title=The push to make 'ecocide' an international crime takes big step forward |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/push-make-ecocide-international-crime-takes-big-step-forward-n1272059 |website= nbcnews.com |publisher=NBC News}}

In 2010, environmental lawyer Polly Higgins submitted a proposal to the United Nations International Law Commission that defined ecocide as:

The extensive damage to, destruction of or loss of ecosystems of a given territory, whether by human agency or by any other causes, to such an extent that peaceful enjoyment by the inhabitants of that territory has been severely diminished.{{sfn|Higgins|Short|South|2013|p=}}{{cite web |last=Jowit |first=Juliette |date=9 April 2010 |title=British campaigner urges UN to accept 'ecocide' as international crime |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/apr/09/ecocide-crime-genocide-un-environmental-damage |access-date=2015-10-11 |website= The Guardian}}{{Cite web |title=Is ecocide a crime? – handlebar-online.com |url=https://www.handlebar-online.com/writing-tips/is-ecocide-a-crime/ |access-date=2022-07-02 |website= handlebar-online.com}}The full proposal, which was submitted to the International Law Commission, is set out in chapters 5 and 6 of {{harvnb|Higgins|2010}}

On 22 January 2013, a committee of eleven citizens from nine European Union countries launched the "European Citizens Initiative (ECI) to End Ecocide in Europe".{{cite web |title=Initiative details – European Citizens' Initiative |url=http://ec.europa.eu/citizens-initiative/public/initiatives/obsolete/details/2012/000012 |website=European Commission |access-date=8 November 2015}} The initiative aimed at criminalizing ecocide and investments in activities causing ecocide, as well as denying market access to the EU for products derived from ecocidal activities. Three members of the European Parliament, Keith Taylor, Eva Joly, and Jo Leinen, publicly gave the first signatures.{{cite web |title=IES > News > Citizen Campaign to End Ecocide in Europe |url=http://www.envirosecurity.org/news/single.php?id=356 |website=www.envirosecurity.org |date=11 August 2015 |access-date=8 November 2015 |language=en-GB |archive-date=4 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404195940/http://www.envirosecurity.org/news/single.php?id=356 |url-status=dead}} The initiative did not collect the 1 million signatures needed, but was discussed in the European Parliament.{{cite web |title=Public hearing in the European Parliament {{!}} European Citizens' Initiative {{!}} The ECI Campaign |url=http://www.citizens-initiative.eu/public-hearing-in-the-european-parliament/ |website=www.citizens-initiative.eu |access-date=8 November 2015}}

In December 2019 at the 18th session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Vanuatu and the Maldives called for ecocide to be added to the Statute.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/22/legal-experts-worldwide-draw-up-historic-definition-of-ecocide |title=Legal experts worldwide draw up 'historic' definition of ecocide |work=The Guardian |date=22 June 2021}}{{Cite web |url=https://asp.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/asp_docs/ASP18/GD.VAN.2.12.pdf |title=Statement by H. E. John H. Licht - Ambassador of the Republic of Vanuatu to the European Union |access-date=15 February 2020 |archive-date=15 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215123120/https://asp.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/asp_docs/ASP18/GD.VAN.2.12.pdf |url-status=dead}}{{Cite web |url=https://asp.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/asp_docs/ASP18/GD.MDV.3.12.pdf |title=Written Statement of the Republic of Maldives |access-date=15 February 2020 |archive-date=15 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215123119/https://asp.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/asp_docs/ASP18/GD.MDV.3.12.pdf |url-status=dead}}

In June 2021, an international panel of lawyers submitted a definition of ecocide and proposed a draft amendment to the Rome Statute that would include ecocide among the international crimes prosecuted under the Statute.{{Cite web |last=Shalev |first=Ariella |title=Ecocide Law |url=https://www.fdsd.org/ideas/ecocide-law/ |access-date=2 July 2022 |website=FDSD |date=7 February 2022 |language=en-US}}{{cite web |url=https://www.irishevs.com/ecocide-making-environmental-destruction-a-crime |title=Ecocide: Making environmental destruction a crime |website=www.irishevs.com |publisher=IrishEVs |date=30 June 2021}}{{cite news |date=25 June 2021 |title=Crime of ecocide could transform fight against climate change |url=https://www.ft.com/content/1343dce0-f328-49cc-abc8-2e5060b79eea |work=Financial Times}}{{cite news |date=25 June 2021 |title=Ecocide: How a fast-growing movement plans to put environmental destruction on a par with war crimes |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/22/how-a-growing-movement-plans-to-put-ecocide-on-a-par-with-war-crimes.html |work=Financial Times}} The panel included members from the UK, Senegal, the US, France, Ecuador, Bangladesh, Sierra Leone, Samoa and Norway,{{Cite web |title=Legal definition of ecocide drafted by Independent Expert Panel |url=https://www.stopecocide.earth/legal-definition |access-date=27 June 2022 |website=Stop Ecocide International |language=en-US}} and their proposed definition is:

For the purpose of this Statute, "ecocide" means 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.{{cite web |title=LEGAL DEFINITION OF ECOCIDE |url=https://www.stopecocide.earth/legal-definition |website=Stop Ecocide International |access-date=13 May 2023}}

Many notable people have publicly supported ecocide being made a crime at the International Criminal Court. Several world leaders, environmentalists and celebrities have publicly supported ecocide being made an international crime including Pope Francis, Antonio Guterres, Greta Thunberg, Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa, Emmanuel Macron, Jane Goodall and Paul McCartney.{{Cite web |title=Supporters of Ecocide Law |url=https://www.stopecocide.earth/supporters |access-date=19 July 2023 |website=Stop Ecocide International |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Leading states |url=https://www.stopecocide.earth/leading-states |access-date=19 July 2023 |website=Stop Ecocide International |language=en-US}}

At the 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment, Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme described the damage caused by defoliant Agent Orange in the Vietnam War as ecocide and called for it to be made an international crime.{{Cite web |title=Ecocide: a crime against the planet |url=https://www.lawscot.org.uk/members/journal/issues/vol-66-issue-10/ecocide-a-crime-against-the-planet/ |access-date=22 June 2023 |website=Law Society of Scotland |language=en}}{{Citation |title=Palme Stockholm Conference 1972 | date=5 August 2012 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dGIsMEQYgI |access-date=19 July 2023 |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Siddique |first=Haroon|title=Legal experts worldwide draw up 'historic' definition of ecocide |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/22/legal-experts-worldwide-draw-up-historic-definition-of-ecocide|date=22 June 2021 |access-date=22 June 2023 |issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite magazine |date=19 February 2021 |title=Lawyers Are Working to Put 'Ecocide' on Par with War Crimes. Could an International Law Hold Major Polluters to Account? |url=https://time.com/5940759/ecocide-law-environment-destruction-icc/ |access-date=22 June 2023 |magazine=Time |language=en}} United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in 2017 that it is "highly desirable" to include ecocide as a crime at the International Criminal Court.{{Cite web |date=19 September 2017 |title=Secretary-General's remarks on Global Compact for the environment |url=https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2017-09-19/secretary-generals-remarks-global-compact-environment |access-date=25 September 2020 |website=United Nations Secretary-General |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Supporters of Ecocide Law |url=https://www.stopecocide.earth/supporters |access-date=21 June 2023 |website=Stop Ecocide International |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=EFEverde |first=Redacción |date=3 July 2021 |title=Guterres considera que "sería muy deseable" incorporar el Ecocidio como delito en la Corte Penal Internacional |url=https://efeverde.com/guterres-seria-interesante-incorporar-el-ecocidio-como-delito-en-la-corte-penal-internacional/ |access-date=21 June 2023 |website=EFEverde |language=es}} Pope Francis in his address to the International Association of Penal Law in 2019 stated that "By 'ecocide' we should understand the loss, damage and destruction of ecosystems of a given territory, so that its enjoyment by the inhabitants has been or may be severely affected. This is a fifth category of crimes against peace, which should be recognised as such by the international community." He also stated that "sins against ecology" should be added to Catholic teachings.{{Cite web |date=17 September 2020 |title=Pope Supports Classifying 'Ecocide' as an International Crime |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/pope-supports-classifying-ecocide-as-an-international-crime/ |access-date=16 June 2023 |website=National Review |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |date=16 September 2020 |title=This movement wants to make harming the planet an international crime |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/climate-academy/2020/sep/16/ecocide-environment-destruction-international-crime |access-date=16 June 2023 |issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite web |date=15 November 2019 |title=Pope Francis: Catechism will be updated to define ecological sins |url=https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2019/11/15/pope-francis-catechism-will-be-updated-define-ecological-sins |access-date=16 June 2023 |website=America Magazine |language=en}}

Environmentalist Jane Goodall supported ecocide being made an international crime, stating: "The concept of Ecocide is long overdue. It could lead to an important change in the way people perceive – and respond to – the current environmental crisis."{{Cite web |title=Supporters of Ecocide Law |url=https://www.stopecocide.earth/supporters |access-date=2 June 2023 |website=Stop Ecocide International |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=26 October 2021 |title=Ecocide as an international crime |url=https://una.org.uk/magazine/2021-1/ecocide-international-crime |access-date=2 June 2023 |website=UNA_UK |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Ecocide Law: The Use of Hard Law to Complement Soft Law |url=https://harvardilj.org/2021/05/ecocide-law-the-use-of-hard-law-to-complement-soft-law/ |access-date=2 June 2023 |language=en-US}} In 2023, Greta Thunberg, Luisa Neubauer, Anuna de Wever and Adélaïde Carlier demanded, in an open letter, that all European Union leaders and heads of state must "advocate to make ecocide an international crime at the International Criminal Court."{{Cite web |last=Yeo |first=Sophie |title=Ecocide: Should killing nature be a crime? |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20201105-what-is-ecocide |access-date=16 June 2023 |website= bbc.com |date=6 November 2020 |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Supporters of Ecocide Law |url=https://www.stopecocide.earth/supporters |access-date=16 June 2023 |website=Stop Ecocide International |language=en-US}} At the 54th session of the Human Rights Council, Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights supported ecocide being made a crime at national and international levels.{{Cite web |title=Türk: Human rights are antidote to prevailing politics of distraction, deception, indifference and repression |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2023/09/turk-human-rights-are-antidote-prevailing-politics-distraction-deception |access-date=2023-09-14 |website=OHCHR |language=en}}

Stop Ecocide International (SEI) is an organisation which advocates amending the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to include ecocide. It works with governments, politicians, diplomats and wider society. The organisation has branches or associate groups in almost 50 countries.{{Cite news |last=Vargas |first=Ramon Antonio |date=26 September 2022 |title='A powerful solution': activists push to make ecocide an international crime |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/26/activists-push-make-ecocide-international-crime |access-date=19 July 2023 |issn=0261-3077}} SEI's sister organisation, the Stop Ecocide Foundation convened the Independent Expert Panel for the Legal Definition of Ecocide.{{Cite web |title=SEF |url=https://www.stopecocide.earth/sef |access-date=8 August 2023 |website=Stop Ecocide International |language=en-US}}

The concept of ecocide originated in the 1970s after the United States devastated the environment in Vietnam through use of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.{{cite journal |last1=Minkova |first1=Liana Georgieva |title=The Fifth International Crime: Reflections on the Definition of "Ecocide" |journal=Journal of Genocide Research |date=2023 |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=62–83 |doi=10.1080/14623528.2021.1964688 |doi-access=free}} The word was first recorded at the Conference on War and National Responsibility in Washington DC, where American plant biologist and bioethicist Arthur Galston proposed a new international agreement to ban ecocide.{{Cite book |title=The Invention of Ecocide |last = Zierler |first=David |publisher=University of Georgia Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0820338279}}Article published in New York Times, 26 February 1970; quote in Weisberg, Barry Ecocide in Indochina (1970) Canfield Press, San Francisco OCLC 135562

In 1972 at the United Nations Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment, Prime Minister of Sweden Olof Palme called the Vietnam War an ecocide.{{sfn|Björk|1996|p=15}} Others, including Indira Gandhi from India and Tang Ke, the leader of the Chinese delegation, also denounced the war in human and environmental terms, calling for ecocide to be an international crime.{{sfn|Björk|1996|p=}}{{Cite web |url=https://sas-space.sas.ac.uk/4830/1/Ecocide_research_report_19_July_13.pdf |title=The Ecocide Project: Ecocide is the missing 5th Crime Against Peace |last=Gauger |first=Anja |date=2013 |website=sas-space.sas.ac.uk |access-date=13 December 2018}} A Working Group on Crimes Against the Environment was formed at the conference, and a draft Ecocide Convention was submitted into the United Nations in 1973.{{sfn|Björk|1996|p=15}} This convention called for a treaty that would define and condemn ecocide as an international war crime, recognising that "man has consciously and unconsciously inflicted irreparable damage to the environment in times of war and peace."{{cite book |last=Falk |first=Richard A. |chapter=Environmental Warfare and Ecocide – Facts, Appraisal, and Proposals |editor-last=Thee |editor-first=Marek |title=Bulletin of Peace Proposals |date=1973 |volume=1}}

The International Law Commission 1978 Yearbook's {{'}}Draft articles on State Responsibility and International Crime{{'}} included: "an international crime (which) may result, inter alia, from: (d) a serious breach of an international obligation of essential importance for the safeguarding and preservation of the human environment, such as those prohibiting massive pollution of the atmosphere or of the seas."{{Cite web |url=https://legal.un.org/docs/?path=../ilc/publications/yearbooks/english/ilc_1978_v2_p2.pdf&lang=EFS |title=Yearbook of the International Law Commission |year=1978 |volume= II, part 2 |website=legal.un.org |publisher=United Nations}} Supporters who spoke out in favor of a crime of ecocide included Romania, the Holy See,Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. Study of the Question of the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. 4 July 1978. E/CN.4/Sub.2/416, p.124 and p.130 Austria, Poland, Rwanda, Congo and Oman.

The Whitaker Report, commissioned by the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights on the prevention and punishment of genocide was prepared by then Special Rapporteur, Benjamin Whitaker.[http://www.preventgenocide.org/prevent/UNdocs/whitaker/ The Whitaker Report] E/CN.4/Sub.2/1985/6. The report contained a passage that

Some members of the Sub-Commission have, however, proposed that the definition of genocide should be broadened to include cultural genocide or "ethnocide", and also "ecocide": adverse alterations, often irreparable, to the environment – for example through nuclear explosions, chemical weapons, serious pollution and acid rain, or destruction of the rain forest – which threaten the existence of entire populations, whether deliberately or with criminal negligence.{{Cite web |url=http://www.preventgenocide.org/prevent/UNdocs/whitaker/section6.htm |title=29-42 Whitaker Report on Genocide| year=1985 |publisher=Prevent Genocide International |website=preventgenocide.org}}

In 1996, Canadian/Australian lawyer Mark Gray published his proposal for an international crime of ecocide, based on established international environmental and human rights law. He demonstrated that states, and arguably individuals and organizations, causing or permitting harm to the natural environment on a massive scale breach a duty of care owed to humanity in general. He proposed that such breaches, where deliberate, reckless or negligent, be identified as ecocide where they entail serious, and extensive or lasting, ecological damage; international consequences; and waste.

In 2011, the Hamilton Group drafted a mock Ecocide Act and then tested it via a mock trial in the UK Supreme Court.{{Cite magazine |title=Is Ecocide a Crime? |url=https://science.time.com/2011/10/24/is-ecocide-a-crime/ |magazine=Time |access-date=8 November 2015 |issn=0040-781X |first=Bryan |last=Walsh}}{{cite web |title=Ecocide Act {{!}} Eradicating Ecocide |url=http://eradicatingecocide.com/the-law/ecocide-act/ |website=eradicatingecocide.com |access-date=8 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004012143/http://eradicatingecocide.com/the-law/ecocide-act/ |archive-date=4 October 2015 |url-status=dead}}

In 2012, a concept paper on the Law of Ecocide was sent out to governments.[http://eradicatingecocide.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Concept-Paper-Closing-the-Door-to-Dangerous-Industrial-Activity.pdf Closing the door to dangerous industrial activity: A concept paper for governments to implement emergency measures] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304085115/http://eradicatingecocide.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Concept-Paper-Closing-the-Door-to-Dangerous-Industrial-Activity.pdf |date=4 March 2016 }}. The Earth Community Trust. In June 2012 the idea of making ecocide a crime was presented to legislators and judges from around the world at the World Congress on Justice Governance and Law for Environmental Sustainability,{{cite news |title=Palm trees and controversy: the world's top judges and lawyers at Rio+20 |first=Stanley |last=Johnson |url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/2012/jun/22/human-rights-rio-20-earth-summit |work=The Guardian |date=22 June 2012 |access-date=8 November 2015}}{{cite web |title=Environmental Rule of Law |url=http://www.unep.org/delc/worldcongress/ |website=United Nations Environment Programme |access-date=8 November 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130831193509/http://unep.org/delc/worldcongress/ |archive-date=31 August 2013}}{{cite web |title=Summary of the World Congress on Justice, Governance and Law for Environmental Sustainability, 17–20 June 2012, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |url=http://www.iisd.ca/uncsd/rio20/unepwc/html/ymbvol203num1e.html |website=www.iisd.ca |access-date=8 November 2015 |archive-date=26 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170226223839/http://www.iisd.ca/uncsd/rio20/unepwc/html/ymbvol203num1e.html |url-status=dead}} held in Mangaratiba before the Rio +20 Earth Summit. Making ecocide an international crime was voted as one of the top twenty solutions to achieving sustainable development at the World Youth Congress in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012.{{cite web |title=No lack of solutions at Rio+20 |author=United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development |date=17 June 2012 |url=https://www.preventionweb.net/news/no-lack-solutions-rio20 |website=PreventionWeb |publisher=United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction |access-date=19 June 2024}}

In October 2012 the international conference Environmental Crime: Current and Emerging Threats{{cite web |title=International Conference on Environmental Crime: Current and Emerging Threats |url=http://www.unicri.it/topics/environmental/conference/ |website=www.unicri.it |access-date=8 November 2015}} was held in Rome and hosted by the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) in cooperation with United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the Ministry of the Environment (Italy). The conference recognized that environmental crime is an important new form of transnational organized crime in need a greater response. One of the outcomes was that UNEP and UNICRI head up a study into the definition of environmental crime and give due consideration to making ecocide an international crime.{{cite web |title=International Conference on Environmental Crime: Current and Emerging Threats: ACTION PLAN ON COMBATING ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME |url=http://www.unicri.it/topics/environmental/conference/Plan%20of%20action.pdf |website=www.unicri.it |access-date=8 November 2015 |archive-date=1 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160301054531/http://www.unicri.it/topics/environmental/conference/Plan%20of%20action.pdf |url-status=dead}}

In November 2019 Pope Francis, addressing the International Association of Penal Law (AIDP), called on the international community to recognize ecocide as a "fifth category of crime against peace."{{Cite web |url=https://cnstopstories.com/2019/11/15/catechism-will-be-updated-to-include-ecological-sins-pope-says/ |title=Catechism will be updated to include ecological sins, pope says |date=15 November 2019 |website=CNS top stories |access-date=15 February 2020 |archive-date=30 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210830090853/https://cnstopstories.com/2019/11/15/catechism-will-be-updated-to-include-ecological-sins-pope-says/ |url-status=dead}}

In July 2019, a group of 24 scientists called for ecocide committed in conflict areas be punished as a war crime.

In November 2020, a panel of international lawyers convened by Stop Ecocide International and chaired by British law professor Philippe Sands and Senegalese jurist Dior Fall Sow started drafting a proposed law criminalizing ecocide.{{cite news |title=International lawyers draft plan to criminalise ecosystem destruction |first=OWen |last=Bowcott |url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/2020/nov/30/international-lawyers-draft-plan-to-criminalise-ecosystem-destruction |access-date=1 December 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=30 November 2020 |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Defining 'ecocide': how and why should environmental destruction be criminalised? |url=https://www.leighday.co.uk/news/events/defining-ecocide-how-and-why-should-environmental-destruction-be-criminalised/ |access-date=23 June 2023 |website=leighday.co.uk |language=en}}

In May 2021, the European parliament adopted 2 reports advancing the recognition of ecocide as a crime.{{Cite press release |title=Environmental liability rules need revamping |date=20 May 2021 |publisher=European Parliament |url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20210517IPR04121/environmental-liability-rules-need-revamping |last1=Yakimova |first1=Yasmina}}

In order to enforce implementation and increase citizens' trust in EU rules, and to prevent and remedy environmental damage more effectively, Parliament demands that the Environmental Liability Directive (ELD) and the Environmental Crime Directive (ECD) be improved.{{Cite web |date=20 May 2021 |title=Environmental liability rules need revamping |url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20210517IPR04121/environmental-liability-rules-need-revamping |access-date=2 July 2022 |website= europarl.europa.eu |language=en}}{{Clarification needed|date=January 2023}}

Also in May 2021 the 179 members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) passed an almost-unanimous resolution inviting member parliaments recognise the crime of ecocide.{{Cite report |title=Resolution - Parliamentary strategies to strengthen peace and security against threats and conflicts resulting from climate-related disasters and their consequences |date=27 May 2021 |publisher=IPU - 142nd Assembly}}

The governments of some of the island states at risk from climate change (Fiji, Niue, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Tonga and Vanuatu) launched the "Port Vila Call for a Just Transition to a Fossil Fuel Free Pacific", calling for the phase out fossil fuels and the 'rapid and just transition' to renewable energy and strengthening environmental law including introducing the crime of ecocide.{{Cite web |last= |title=Six Island Nations Commit to 'Fossil Fuel-Free Pacific,' Demand Global Just Transition |url=https://www.commondreams.org/news/fossil-fuel-free-pacific |access-date=1 July 2023 |website=Common Dreams |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=22 March 2023 |title=Port Vila call to phase out fossil fuels |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/486463/port-vila-call-to-phase-out-fossil-fuels |access-date=1 July 2023 |work=Radio New Zealand |language=en-nz}}

On 16 November 2023, European Union legislators reached an agreement on a new directive with jail sentences for the worst polluters and companies fined up to 5% of their global turnover. The agreed law has to be formally approved by Parliament in February 2024.{{Cite web |last=Kurmayer |first=Nikolaus J. |date=17 November 2023 |title=EU strikes deal on new 'ecocide' rules to put polluters in jail |url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy-environment/news/eu-strikes-deal-on-new-ecocide-rules-to-send-polluters-in-jail/ |access-date=4 December 2023 |website=Euractiv |language=en-GB}}{{Update inline|date=December 2024}}

{{update|reason=http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2024/1203/oj|date=May 2025}}

Ten countries have codified ecocide as a crime within their borders during peacetime. Those countries followed the wording of Article 26 of the International law Commission (ILC) Draft which referred to intentionally causing "widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment" within the context of war – bearing in mind that Article 26 was removed from the final draft submitted to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in 1996.{{sfn|Higgins|Short|South|2013|p=261}} None of the countries established procedures to measure 'intention'.

The countries with domestic ecocide laws are France (2021), Georgia (1999), Armenia (2003), Ukraine (2001), Belarus (1999), Ecuador (2008; 2014), Chile (2023), Kazakhstan (1997), Kyrgyzstan (1997), Moldova (2002), Russia (1996), Tajikistan (1998), Uzbekistan (1994), Belgium (2023) and Vietnam (1990).{{Cite web |title=Existing Ecocide Laws |url=https://ecocidelaw.com/existing-ecocide-laws/ |access-date=27 November 2023 |website=Ecocide Law |language=en-GB}}

In 2021, the French National Assembly approved the creation of an "ecocide" offence as part of a battery of measures aimed at protecting the environment and tackling climate change.{{Cite news |date=17 April 2021 |agency=Agence France-Presse |title=France drafts 'ecocide' bill to punish acts of environmental damage |url=https://www.france24.com/en/france/20210417-france-drafts-ecocide-bill-to-punish-acts-of-environmental-damage |access-date=2 July 2022 |work=France 24 |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Kaminski |first=Isabella |date=26 August 2023 |title=Growing number of countries consider making ecocide a crime |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/26/growing-number-of-countries-consider-making-ecocide-crime |access-date=19 June 2024 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}

See List of nuclear holocaust fiction for fiction which depicts ecocide by nuclear holocaust.

Many movies depict ecocide and its impacts including:{{Cite book |title=Avenging nature: the role of nature in modern and contemporary art and literature |date=2020 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-1-7936-2144-3 |editor1-last=Valls Oyarzun |editor1-first=Eduardo |series=Ecocritical theory and practice |location=Lanham Boulder NewYork London |chapter=17 |editor2-last=Gualberto Valverde |editor2-first=Rebeca |editor3-last=Malla García |editor3-first=Noelia |editor4-last=Colom Jiménez |editor4-first=María |editor5-last=Cordero Sánchez |editor5-first=Rebeca}}{{sfn|Narine|2018}}

{{columns-list|colwidth=15em|

• Avatar
• Avatar: The Way of Water
• Blade Runner{{citation |last=Leaver |first=Tama |title=Post-Humanism and Ecocide in William Gibson's Neuromancer and Ridley Scott's Blade Runner |url=http://project.cyberpunk.ru/idb/post-humanism_and_ecocide.html |year=1997 |access-date=27 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703104841/http://project.cyberpunk.ru/idb/post-humanism_and_ecocide.html |archive-date=3 July 2013 |via=The Cyberpunk Project}}{{self-published source|date=February 2018}}
• Blade Runner 2049
• The Book of Eli
• Children of Men
• Deepwater Horizon
• Elysium
• FernGully: The Last Rainforest
• Hardware
• Hunger strike against Ecocide
• Interstellar
• Letter from the Age of Ecocide
• Passengers
• Mad Max
• Mad Max 2
• Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
• No Blade of Grass
• Snowpiercer
• Soylent Green
• The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
• Threads
• The Lorax
• Wall-E{{sfn|Narine|2018|loc=Love in the Times of Ecocide, Environmental Trauma and Comic Relief in Andrew Stanton's WALL-E}}

}}

• Arjuna
• Blade Runner: Black Lotus
• Extrapolations
• Silo (TV series)
• The 100
• Travelers{{sfn|Narine|2018}}

Several documentaries explore the subject including

• Poisoning Paradise: Ecocide New Zealand
• Ecocide changer ou disparaître
• Ecocide: Voices from Paradise
• ''Heart of Mother Earth'{{sfn|Narine|2018}}

• Ecophagy
• Ecotage
• Environmental degradation
• Environmental disaster
• Holocene extinction
• Involuntary manslaughter
• List of environmental issues
• Operation Ranch Hand
• Rights of nature
• Scorched earth
• War on drugs#Aerial herbicide application
• Water scarcity
• Toxic colonialism

{{Reflist}}

;Bibliography

{{refbegin}}

• {{Cite web |last=Björk |first=Tord |date=1996 |url=http://www.folkrorelser.org/johannesburg/stockholm72.pdf |title=The emergence of popular participation in world politics: United Nations Conference on Human Environment 1972 |website=folkrorelser.org |access-date=13 December 2018}}
• {{cite book |last=Higgins |first=Polly |author-link=Polly Higgins |title=Eradicating Ecocide: Laws and Governance to Prevent the Destruction of our Planet |publisher=Shepheard-Walwyn |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-85683-275-8}}
• {{Cite journal |last1=Higgins |first1=Polly |author1-link=Polly Higgins |last2=Short |first2=Damien |author2-link=Damien Short |last3=South |first3=Nigel |date=1 April 2013 |title=Protecting the planet: a proposal for a law of ecocide |url=https://www.academia.edu/3835780 |journal=Crime, Law and Social Change |language=en |volume=59 |issue=3 |pages=251–266 |doi=10.1007/s10611-013-9413-6 |s2cid=254425099 |issn=1573-0751}}
• {{Cite book |editor-last=Narine |editor-first=Anil |title=Eco-trauma cinema |date=2018 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-138-54841-1 |edition=First issued in paperback |series=Routledge advances in film studies |location=New York London}}

{{refend}}

;Further reading

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book |last1=Brisman |first1=Avi |last2=South |first2=Nigel |date=2014 |title= Green Cultural Criminology: Constructions of Environmental Harm, Consumerism, and Resistance to Ecocide |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780415630740}}
• {{cite book |last=Carroll |first=William K. |date=2025 |title=Refusing Ecocide: From Fossil Capitalism to a Liveable World |publisher=Routledge |isbn=}}
• {{cite book |last=Cherson |first=Adam |title=Ecocide: Environmental Gloom and Doom Explained in Everyday Language |publisher=Greencore Books |year=2009 |orig-year=2017 |page=270 |isbn=978-1-52063-405-0}}
• {{cite book |last=Diamond |first=Jared |author-link=Jared Diamond |title=Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2005 |location=England |page=575 |isbn=0-14-303655-6}}
• {{cite book |last1=Dunlap |first1=Alexander |last2=Brock |first2=Andrea |date=2022 |title=Enforcing Ecocide: Power, Policing & Planetary Militarization |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-3-030-99646-8 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-99646-8}}
• {{cite book |last=Short |first=Damien |author-link=Damien Short |date=2016 |title=Redefining Genocide: Settler Colonialism, Social Death and Ecocide |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-84813-546-8}}
• {{cite book |last=Tsilonis |first=Victor |date=2024 |chapter=Ecocide: The Emergence of a New Crime Within the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court? |title=The Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court |publisher=Springer Science+Business Media |isbn=978-3-031-46138-5 |doi=10.1007/978-3-031-46138-5 |pages=265–297}}
• Wijdekop, Femke. (2016). "Against Ecocide: Legal Protection for Earth." [https://greattransition.org/publication/against-ecocide Great Transition Initiative].

{{refend}}

{{Wikiquote}}

• [https://www.stopecocide.earth/ Official website of Stop ECOCIDE]
• [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/21/sunday-review/bolsonaro-amazon-fire.html Coverage of Stop ECOCIDE in NY Times]
• [http://www.endecocide.eu/ Official website of the European citizens' initiative]
• [http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-stuff/ The story of stuff] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111119105523/http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-stuff/ |date=19 November 2011 }}

{{Global warming}}

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{{Human impact on the environment}}

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