Relevance of ECOCIDE as the fifth crime

This 90minute event takes place at The Hague and is being live-streamed. Register to watch online, free.

Official side event 21st Session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

The Rome Statute is intended to address the “most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole”, those acts which most “threaten the peace, security and wellbeing of the world”.

In the context of climate and ecological crisis, it is clear that mass damage and destruction of vital ecosystems through human activity now constitutes precisely such a threat on a global scale. It is also clear that such acts are not restricted to times of conflict, nor do they necessarily involve direct harm to humans; they are therefore not addressed by the existing Rome Statute crimes.

At the same time, such damage and destruction, now increasingly referred to as “ecocide”,…