2023-12-05 10:30:00
After several months of negotiation between the European Council, the Commission and the European Parliament, on Thursday, November 16, we learned of great news worldwide: the European Union has agreed create and new crime that aims to punish the most serious damage to the environment. The text will be formally adopted in the coming months, but the all-important political agreement has already been reached. It established a “qualified crime” aimed at preventing and punishing environmental damage more serious, including “cases comparable to ecocide.
Furthermore, it took note of the increasing number of draft ecocide laws that have already been proposed and are advancing both in Europe and the rest of the world. Even so, in its operational text of the Directive it decided to refrain from including the word “ecocide.”
Ecocide is now an international crime
Unlike the text suggested by the European Parliament, it closely follows the proposal and the spirit of the definition of ecocide as international crime. Written by the Panel of Independent Experts convened by the Stop Ecocide Foundation in 2021this definition has triggered a rapid growth of governmental, legal, academic and media interesto around the topic around the world. as a crime in itself.
A specialist pointed out that, “environmentalism has not been very present in the electoral campaign”
The European Union’s agreement to sanction serious environmental damage, comparable to ecocide, has generated multiple repercussions. MEP Marie Tussaint, a prominent participant in the negotiations, maintains that the approved text marks a milestone in the defense of the environment in Europe and beyond, opening the door to a new era of environmental litigation. This achievement is crucial for those seeking confront criminal enterprises that violate the laws and threaten environmental democracy in Europe.
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“We will continue fighting to that living beings can never once more be harmed in the name of profit. It is now essential that the Member States of the European Union propose an amendment so that the autonomous crime of ecocide be included in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court“said the representative of the European Parliament.
The news has also been celebrated by Jojo Mehta, Co-founder and Executive Director of Stop Ecocidio International, and Maite Mompó, Spanish-speaking Director of Stop Ecocidio.
The growing public interest in the consideration of ecocide and comparable crimes is evident and in Argentina we have worked on a proposal together with AIDPAC and Stopecocidio among other national and international institutions. In this context that is presented to us, what do we expect for incorporate the crime of ecocide into the National Penal Code?
*Associate professor of the Criminal Law and Postgraduate Departments of Environmental Crime at the University of Belgrano
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