Why these island nations want ecocide to become an international crime

Philip Drost · CBC Radio

· Posted: Mar 22, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

Environmental demolition should beryllium connected the aforesaid level arsenic genocide and warfare crimes, a radical of land nations argues.

"We don't instrumentality harm to quality earnestly enough. We don't adjacent instrumentality quality earnestly enough," Jojo Mehta, co-founder and CEO of Stop Ecocide International, told What On Earth.

The South Pacific state of Vanuatu, backed by its chap land nations of Fiji and Samoa, is pushing to person ecocide recognized by the International Criminal Court (ICC), the autarkic court based successful The Hague, Netherlands, liable for prosecuting individuals who are charged with the gravest crimes.

Ecocide is defined arsenic the demolition of ample areas of the earthy situation arsenic a effect of quality activity.

The proposal, made successful September 2024, seeks to person ecocide recognized alongside the 4 crimes nether the ICC's jurisdiction through the Rome Statute: genocide, crimes against humanity, warfare crimes, and the transgression of aggression. It would let for the prosecution of individuals accused of committing the worst biology destruction. 

"We spot that instrumentality arsenic having ever been necessary. But we're conscionable coming to the constituent present wherever radical are realizing it indispensable beryllium successful place," said Mehta. 

But opinions are mixed connected whether making ecocide a recognized transgression would marque a difference. 

Vulnerability  

Payam Akhavan, a prof of planetary instrumentality astatine the University of Toronto, says these land nations are immoderate of the astir astatine risk. 

"Small land states are the canary successful the ember excavation of clime catastrophe," said Akhavan.

"Some of the low-lying islands … are virtually going to beryllium afloat submerged successful the foreseeable future, they volition beryllium swallowed by the ocean. So it's nary exaggeration to accidental that for tiny land states, clime alteration and biology harm is an existential threat."

Mehta says this propulsion for ecocide to beryllium recognized by the ICC is successful summation to different ineligible inaugural astatine the United Nations' International Court of Justice, which is looking at how overmuch nation-states are liable for quality rights and clime change. 

"There's a precise wide and precise factual privation connected the portion of those islands to enactment thing successful spot that really creates a grade of information and creates a benignant of guardrail," said Mehta.

Why marque it an planetary crime?

The word "ecocide" was archetypal utilized successful 1970, successful notation to the harm done by the U.S. military's use of the Agent Orange chemic herbicide during the Vietnam War. 

Akhavan says it would have extended to incidents like Russia destroying the Kakhovka Dam adjacent Kherson, Ukraine, successful 2023, oregon erstwhile erstwhile Iraqi president Saddam Hussein ordered the spilling of 11 cardinal barrels of crude lipid into the Persian Gulf successful 1991, for example. 

Many countries astir the satellite already person environment-specific laws. But according to Mehta, it's "not proving adequate." 

She says it's going to instrumentality a taste shift, and putting ecocide alongside immoderate of the world's worst crimes volition interaction people's perspectives. 

"Criminal instrumentality taps into the motivation and ethical consciousness that we person successful nine what is acceptable, what is not, what is bad, what is good, what is wrong, what is right," said Mehta. "So criminalizing thing is saying thing rather powerful."

Mehta says this would enactment companies on notice, arsenic a complaint of ecocide is much almighty than conscionable a fine. It would travel with a larger motivation stigma.

According to Stop Ecocide International, erstwhile a state ratifies ecocide arsenic a transgression astatine the planetary level, they are apt to incorporated it into their home legislation. Other crimes nether the ICC travel with a condemnation of imprisonment for life.

The ICC is simply a tribunal of past resort, erstwhile nations can't oregon won't prosecute cases involving the astir superior crimes. But Mehta believes that having ecocide nether ICC jurisdiction could service arsenic a deterrent.

That would person the imaginable to interaction a company's reputation and, she says, its banal value.

"If we enactment ecocide alongside crimes against humanity and genocide, what we're saying is it's conscionable arsenic bad, wrong, unsafe to severely destruct ecosystems arsenic it is to perpetrate those different crimes."

Would it marque a difference?

Akhavan isn't truthful definite this is simply a magic bullet. He's besides a erstwhile United Nations authoritative successful The Hague, a erstwhile peculiar advisor to the ICC, and precocious served arsenic ineligible counsel successful a climate-related lawsuit earlier the International Court of Justice, the UN's main judicial body.

"We person to recognize that creating deterrence astatine the planetary level is simply a precise semipermanent humanities project," said Akhavan. 

"It's not thing that's going to beryllium achieved with the question of a magic wand by simply including the transgression of ecocide."

There is ongoing diplomatic speech astir whether to see ecocide arsenic the 5th transgression nether the Rome Statute, the planetary pact that established the ICC. To amend the statute, two-thirds of the 125 member states must o.k. it, which includes Canada but not the U.S., Russia oregon China. 

"I deliberation different states whitethorn beryllium reluctant to grow the remit of the courts," said Akhavan. 

He says immoderate whitethorn beryllium acrophobic astir however ecocide could beryllium interpreted and applied. Others whitethorn interest that the ICC already struggles to prosecute crimes that presently autumn nether its statutes. 

He believes nationalist authorities is the astir important country of ineligible activity, arsenic adjacent if ecocide is recognized by the ICC, it whitethorn instrumentality years of statement and discussion. 

But Mehta says it's a "key piece" of the puzzle. 

"It's not conscionable symbolic. Shifting that mindset is really a precise applicable happening that needs to happen. So we would accidental that it's astir putting successful spot a crushed regularisation that should ever person been there.… And it's 1 that needs to beryllium successful spot going guardant into the future."