Motion 061

The international community is at a critical point in the effort to halt and reverse ecosystem degradation. The criminalisation of ecocide at the international level could offer an invaluable opportunity to create effective law to protect and conserve nature, underpinning and supporting IUCN’s work across the world. Established under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, ecocide law could better protect and conserve ecosystems by ensuring that reckless and wanton environmental destruction is dealt with as a criminal matter, thus acting as a brake on the most destructive human activities. In most jurisdictions, existing environmental laws and regulations are fragmentary and inconsistently enforced. Profits outweigh potential sanctions and many harmful activities are still subsidised by governments. According to a report published by Earth Track in September 2024, subsidies for environmentally harmful activities have increased by over $800bn since its last analysis in 2022. It puts the current total amount of subsidies for environmentally harmful activities at least $2.6 trillion, or 2.5% of global GDP. By establishing under law personal criminal liability for perpetrators responsible for acts amounting to ecocide, this crime could ensure higher levels of due diligence in the planning of activity likely to cause environmental harm, as well as foster the development and redirection of resources towards healthier, more sustainable practices. As well as criminal accountability, remedies could include restoration and rehabilitation of damaged ecosystems, compensation and restitution.
Ecocide law has broad support across many spheres – for example, academic (Report of the Universidad Carlos II de Madrid and the International Council of Environmental Law on “Prosecuting Ecocide: Prospects for Enforcement Nationally and Internationally” 2023), financial (Biodiversity as Systemic Risk, International Corporate Governance Network 2023) and scientific (Global Tipping Points Report, University of Exeter 2023). It also has popular support. The Global Commons Survey 2024, commissioned by Earth4All and the Global Commons Alliance and conducted by IPSOS UK, found that 72% of people across G20 countries agree that approving/permitting projects causing severe environmental harms should be a crime.
A number of states have already passed ecocide laws, such as: Viet Nam (1990), Uzbekistan (1994), The Russian Federation (1996), Kyrgyzstan (1997), Kazakhstan (1997), Tajikistan (1998), Belarus (1999), Georgia (1999), Ukraine (2001), Moldova (2002), Armenia (2003), France (2021), Chile (2023), Colombia (2021) and Belgium (2024). An internationally recognised norm prohibiting acts amounting to ecocide could provide greater legal certainty, improved environmental protection efforts across countries, and a cultural shift around treatment of the environment.

NB This motion is of global relevance with implications for all nations/regions. This is why questions 5 and 6 on particular localities in the submission have been answered in the negative. In a similar vein, because of the relevance of ecocide law to multiple sectors, geographies and biomes, there are a significant number of additional keywords, SDG goals/targets and threats/drivers which apply beyond the selections permitted.