Support EU recognition
of a crime of ECOCIDE

 

The EU has agreed to enshrine in law a new offence that aims to punish the most serious crimes against the environment. 

The final text emerged following several months of negotiation (“trilogues”) between the European Council, Commission and Parliament considering, inter alia, the establishment of a “qualified offence” aimed at preventing and punishing the gravest environmental harms including, as the accompanying recitals specify, “cases comparable to ecocide”. 

 
 

The 2008 EU Directive on protection of the environment through criminal law is currently being revised.  In the current draft, ecocide is mentioned in the preamble, but not in the main operative part where offences are listed.  

We believe ecocide should be added as a new criminal offence, creating an enforceable deterrent to the most severe and either widespread or long-term harms to nature. 

Recognizing ecocide as a crime in the directive will: 

  • support and strengthen existing environmental laws in all EU member states

  • create a much-needed “outer boundary” guardrail for economic activity

  • empower strategic positive change and innovation in policy and industry

This is a legal and moral opportunity for the EU to lead the world in protecting life on Earth: for us, for our children and for all living beings.  

Let’s tell them to seize it.