Ecocide

Is ecocide an environmental crime?

At present, ecocide is not recognised as an international crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which currently covers genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression. However, in recent years there has been growing international debate about the need to recognise ecocide as a new international crime in order to prosecute the most serious forms of environmental harm.

According to Philippe Sands, the key to considering an environmental crime as ecocide lies in the meaning of some of the words that make up the definition. In this regard, the preamble explains the following:

• "Arbitrary" means an act of recklessness in respect of damage that would be manifestly excessive in relation to the expected social or economic benefit.
• "Serious" means damage that causes significant adverse change, disturbance or harm to any element of the environment, including effects on human life or economic, cultural or natural resources.
• "Extensive" means damage that goes beyond a limited geographical area, transcends state borders or affects an entire ecosystem, a species or a large number of human beings.
• "Lasting" means damage which is irreversible in nature or which cannot be repaired by natural regeneration within a reasonable period of time.

The proposal to recognise ecocide as an international crime therefore seeks to establish greater accountability for those responsible for arbitrary, severe, widespread or long-term environmental destruction. Its aim is to strengthen the protection of ecosystems and provide legal mechanisms to address actions that threaten the balance of nature and the wellbeing of present and future generations.

Some countries have already taken steps to recognise the concept within their domestic legal systems. Vietnam became the first country to include ecocide in its criminal code in 1990, followed by several others. In 2024, Belgium became one of the first European Union Member States to incorporate it into its criminal legislation. In addition, the European Union adopted new legislation on environmental crime in 2024, strengthening the prosecution of certain offences that cause serious environmental damage.

Historical cases of ecocide

While the definition of ecocide is not yet universally recognised, a number of environmental disasters that have occurred over recent decades could be considered examples of ecocide.

Industrial pollution

• Chernobyl disaster (1986). The explosion of one of the reactors at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant released a vast quantity of radioactive material into the atmosphere – estimated to be around 500 times greater than that released by the Hiroshima atomic bomb – creating a radioactive cloud that spread across much of Europe.
• Deepwater Horizon oil spill (2010). An accident on the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig triggered one of the largest marine oil spills in history. The slick spread across more than 149,000 km² and is estimated to have contaminated up to 1,770 km of coastline.
• Environmental degradation in the Niger Delta (since the 1970s). After decades of largely uncontrolled oil extraction in the Niger Delta, repeated oil spills have polluted water supplies and devastated agricultural land. As a result, many local communities have been left with few natural resources in an area already affected by widespread poverty.

Destruction and degradation of ecosystems

• The disappearance of the Aral Sea (1960s–present). Located in Central Asia, it is one of the greatest known environmental catastrophes. Decades of diverting the water from the two rivers that supplied it, the Sir Daria and the Amu Daria, left the world's fourth largest inland sea almost dry.
• Deforestation of the Amazon (1970s–present). Often described as the "lungs of the planet", the Amazon rainforest has lost an area of forest roughly equivalent to the size of France since 1970, largely as a result of the direct and indirect impacts of cattle ranching and unsustainable logging.