Finland: ruling party supports recognition of “ecocide” as international crime

Summary:

• The governing board of the largest political party in Finland’s ruling coalition government, the National Coalition Party (NCP) (Finnish: Kansallinen Kokoomus), has expressed support for amending the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to include a standalone crime of ecocide.

• At the NCP’s bi-annual party conference held in Tampere from 14-16 June 2024, the board stated that ‘the party board finds the motion's proposal to register ecocide as a crime under international law to be supported*’, emphasising the need to address ‘extremely reprehensible’ acts of environmental destruction.

• The statement was made in response to an initiative presented by Tuhatkunta, a political student association of the NCP, in which the organisation called for the NCP to promote the recognition of ecocide as an international crime.

• The NCP board also stated in its response to Tuhatkunta’s initiative that ecocide has not always been defined uniformly, but cited the prominence of the Stop Ecocide Foundation Independent Expert Panel’s consensus definition (p.84).

• Tuhatkunta also noted the widespread support for ecocide law in the private sector, stating in its submission that ‘there is an increasing demand in the business world, in Finland and worldwide, to include ecocide as the fifth crime against humanity under the Rome Statute in the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC)*.’

*Statements translated from Finnish.

You can read the NCP governing board’s full statement here (Section 64).