MAKE ECOCIDE AN INTERNATIONAL LAW

Ecocide is broadly understood as mass damage and destruction of nature, a root cause of the climate and ecological emergency that we now face.

While most human interaction with the environment creates some level of impact, ecocide refers only to the very worst harms, usually on a major industrial scale or impacting a huge area.

Scientific and on-the-ground knowledge of risks to nature, climate and people in specific contexts is extensive, and readily available to decision-makers in policy and industry. Legal recognition of ecocide will serve as an important incentive to ensure that this information is properly consulted, so that where there is a threat of severe and either widespread or long-term damage, the danger will be taken very seriously and appropriate safety protocols will be employed or, if need be, alternative approaches developed, in order to protect nature and avoid criminal liability

EXAMPLES OF ECOCIDE:

OVERFISHING AND OVEREXTRACTION
Unsustainable practices like bottom trawling, factory fishing and open pen aquaculture wreak massive damage on marine wildlife ecosystems threatening the health, resilience and productivity of our ocean.

We extract from the water the equivalent of 45% of the biomass of the entire human species (177.8 Mt )each year!

OIL SPILLS
Many examples, the worst being Deepwater Horizon 2010 which formed a slick extending over more than 57,500 square miles (149,000 square km), with an estimated 1,100 miles (1,770 km) of shoreline polluted.

CHEMICAL AND PLASTIC POLLUTION
Plastic production is set to triple in the next three decades while the planet and our bodies choke in plastics and the chemicals associated with them. These are killing the ocean micro and macro flora and fauna and end up as microplastics on the seabed floor if they have not made their way into the guts of creatures.

DEEP SEA MINING
This young extractive industry is already provoking calls for a moratorium due to impacts of physical disruption and pollution in the Pacific.

INDUSTRIAL LIVESTOCK FARMING
Cattle ranching for beef production is the single biggest reason for Amazon deforestation along with growing soy for animal feed.

MINERAL EXTRACTION
Copper, iron ore and gold mining as well as oil drilling all contribute to deforestation as well as creating additional harm via contamination of land and river systems

An international crime of ecocide will change the rules at the international level, hold key decision-makers in multinationals and governments accountable for their actions and create a legal framework for environmental
protection. It will create a global safety rail - a legal force-field which could stop severe harms to nature and help direct government policy, banking, investment and insurance away from dangerous practices and towards a safe and peaceful future on a healthy planet.

We must stand together to protect the Earth and all of its inhabitants.
Protecting our planet means protecting us all. Please help and support us