Ecocide law is a law for life
Ecocide law is known as a ‘law for life’ – a law that puts people and planet first, a law that says ‘enough, no more mass damage and destruction.’ When we do that, humanity places the health and well-being of all beings both now and in the future at the forefront of our decision-making. It is a law that affirms humanity’s right to life, nature’s right to life and future generations right to life.
Most of all, Ecocide law is a law for peace.
A law of Ecocide is required. This we know because it no longer works to destroy our habitat. A law of Ecocide can be put in place at the very top, as an international crime, over and above all other laws – to prevent mass damage, destruction to or loss of ecosystems – which means amending the Rome Statute. All that is required is for it to be tabled. It can be done, and there is a Review Conference due soon. All nations have been sent a Concept Paper and this website sets out in the public domain the proposal that will change the course of history – should we choose. Polly Higgins, legal expert on the law of Ecocide and author of Eradicating Ecocide and Earth is our Business, calls Ecocide “the missing crime of our time.”
Wish20 is a global citizens initiative that maps the growing support for the law of Ecocide and gives world leaders the mandate to make it an international crime.
Map your support for Wish20 here.
Your support for the law of Ecocide is important. The Wish20 Map is a visual representation of where our supporters are around the world and what your wishes for 2020 are. Please add your details to our Wish20 Map. If you are a European Citizen, you can sign the European Citizens’ Initiative to make Ecocide a crime in the EU.
Rome Statute
The Rome Statute is the governing document which sets out the existing international Crimes Against Peace. Ecocide was to be included in earlier drafts, until it was removed in 1996. You can read about the history of the law of Ecocide, which dates back to 1972 in The Human Rights Consortium research paper, called Ecocide is the missing 5th Crime Against Peace.
The proposed amendment to the Rome Statute was submitted to the United Nations in March 2010. A full legal reasoning for a law of Ecocide and the definition was laid out – you can read what was submitted in Chapters 5 & 6 of Polly Higgins’ first book, Eradicating Ecocide. Polly Higgins proposed as an amendment to the Rome Statute that Ecocide be legally defined as
“the extensive damage to, destruction of or loss of ecosystem(s) of a given territory, whether by human agency or by other causes, to such an extent that peaceful enjoyment by the inhabitants of that territory has been or will be severely diminished.”
By amending the Rome Statute, many countries can become signatories. There are currently 122 countries that are signatories to the Rome Statute. Any amendment to the Rome Statute requires the support of a two-thirds majority of the states parties (which now counts as 82 state parties).