In 2020 the Stop Ecocide Foundation brought together an expert panel of international lawyers advised by top climate and environmental scientists including Valerie Cabanes (End Ecocide on Earth). The purpose of this panel was to develop an up-to-date, clear and legally robust definition of ecocide for review and potential proposal by states they are working with. The resulting definition:
For the purpose of this Statute, “ecocide” means unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment
being caused by those acts.
https://www.stopecocide.earth/legal-definition
Support for the inclusion of the Ecocide Law amendment would need a two thirds majority of the 123 signatories to the Rome Statute. Support for the amendment needed from 82 countries. The process of inclusion into the Rome Statute has 4 stages:
- Proposal
- Admissibility
- Amendment
- Ratification
The amendment of the Statute could take place as part of a Review Conference.
History
Back in 2016 as part of our work towards the inclusion of ecocide crime within international law, End Ecocide on Earth convened a group of legal experts. This group drew up a legal document providing the text for an amendment to the Rome Statute to include the crime of Ecocide. We are involved in lobbying state representatives to propose and support our Ecocide amendments with the view to working towards an International Criminal Court Review Conference.
ICC-Amendements-Ecocide-ENG-Sept-2016
For more information about the amendment and its interpretation read our Amicus document: