INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT: Civil society efforts to criminalise ecocide

Civil society is working to win recognition of the destruction of ecosystems – ecocide – as a legally punishable crime and a new internationally recognised offence. The move is being driven by the Stop Ecocide Foundation, working with lawyers, environmental scientists and the states of Maldives and Vanuatu, which have called at the International Criminal Court (ICC) meetings for ecocide to be considered a crime. If successful, the campaign could open up a route to ICC prosecution over ecocide if domestic processes fail to bring perpetrators to account.