There’s a word for the extensive destruction of ecosystems. It’s called ecocide and it has to stop; there’s no point in trying to be sustainable unless the most environmentally destructive of practices also cease.
In 2010 I, Polly Higgins, proposed to the UN that we make ecocide the 5th crime against peace, to stand alongside crimes like genocide. It is not a new concept. In fact the University of London’s Ecocide Project recently discovered that Ecocide was examined between the 1970s and 1990s by the UN and was due to be implemented as the 5th Crime Against Peace. The idea was shelved in 1996 despite objections from many countries. Imagine what the world would look like today if we had made Ecocide a crime all those years ago.
What I am calling for is to put back in to the Rome Statute that which should have been included in the first place.
A Law of Ecocide acts as a preventative ‘think before you act’ mechanism to put a stop to business practices giving rise to ecocide, as it will hold those who are in a position of superior responsibility criminally liable if they commit ecocide.
It has huge potential to trigger a transformation to the green economy; when ecocide is a crime shareholders won’t invest and banks won’t loan to projects which cause ecocide. It will make sense to invest in green business. Investment and subsidies will be redirected to cleaner energies and create green jobs.
A law of Ecocide does not require international consensus; it requires just 81 Heads of States to agree for it to be law. Whilst it will close the door to dangerous industrial activity it will also create substantial opportunities for the companies that offer new and innovative sustainable solutions.
Ecosystems are still under severe threat around the world, despite the many examples of individual and corporate efforts to change this. This disconnection poses a difficult question: If we’re making so much progress, why are climate change, biodiversity loss, deforestation, ocean acidification and pollution not under control?
The tragic reality is that it remains legal and profitable for ecosystems to be destroyed. Ecocide continues today in the form of vast open cast mines, mono-species agriculture, the flooding of river basins and pollution. These projects are planned and legally financed but are nullifying the progress that many are making. There are numerous voluntary agreements that seek to limit this damage and perhaps a bottom up revolution might create consumer demand for sustainable products and services. But is it enough?
The world also needs an international Law of Ecocide. Over the past two years the idea to make ecocide a crime has gained remarkable support from the public and international leaders alike because it has the potential for real change. With no country holding a veto, a law of Ecocide could be in existence by 2020. It will create the legal certainty that business leaders and investors need to plan for a sustainable future and it could be what’s needed to drive forward a wave of innovation around the world.
Polly Higgins, the ‘Earth’s Lawyer’ and founder of Eradicating Ecocide, has become the leading expert on the law of Ecocide.
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