Eoin Jackson: Ireland must support efforts to classify ecocide as a crime at the International Criminal Court

In September 2024, a Group of Pacific Island States proposed that environmental destruction is criminalized under international law as a crime of “ecocide.”

Ecocide was defined by a Team of experienced lawyers as “unlawful or wanton acts committed with the knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood that such acts will cause serious and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment.”

If this proposal is adopted, those responsible for serious environmental destruction could face similar charges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) as war criminals and those accused of crimes against humanity.

Ireland must support this proposal and play its part in creating an effective international framework to hold individuals accountable for serious damage done to nature.

The international legal system has been slow to adapt to the mounting evidence that individuals are knowingly contributing to the damage to our ecosystems. The first formal call for recognition of ecocide was published by Vanuatu in 2019and it took until 2024 for the proposal to even be submitted for full consideration.

In the meantime, we have seen increasing signs of several environmental crises, including the Harm caused to vulnerable communities due to climate change, which is becoming increasingly worrying Decline in global biodiversity and the ever-growing Heaps of plastic wastefully dumped into our rivers and oceans.

Man-made environmental disasters of this type often transcend borders, making it difficult for national legal systems to hold individuals fully accountable, even when it is clear that they knowingly contributed to the damage. Ecocide would close this gap in our legal system by allowing International Criminal Court lawyers to investigate and, if necessary, prosecute those responsible for the destruction of nature.

There is currently no law in Ireland criminalizing ecocide. However, there are several domestic jurisdictions including France And Belgiumhave introduced similar laws, while the EU has recently expanded its laws Environmental Crime Policy to include behavior described as “comparable to ecocide“.

As ecocide gains traction, the same crime should be available to international lawyers seeking to hold actors accountable for serious, large-scale environmental damage. Introducing ecocide to the International Criminal Court would help bring together these broader efforts and ensure that there is a coherent mechanism at all levels of law to protect people and the planet.

A lack of domestic progress to introduce ecocide should not deter Ireland from giving greater support to the proposal.

Ireland is a party to the Rome Statutethis regulates who can be prosecuted and what types of crimes fall under the jurisdiction of the ICC. In order for ecocide to be considered one of these crimes, an amendment to the Rome Statute is requiredwhich requires the support of at least two thirds of those who are parties to the Statute.

Before such a change can move forward, there are a number of procedural hurdles that will require the support of a large number of states to overcome. This means that Ireland must decide, together with other states, whether to support the presentation of the proposal and ultimately the adoption of an amendment. In doing so, Ireland is likely to face the dilemma often seen in international negotiations.

Many endangered states support ecocideThey see it as a means to seek justice for the harm done to their people by ongoing environmental damage. However, it is likely that some Western states will be concerned about the possibility that the ICC could drag its citizens into the dock to be prosecuted for actions that have propped up a fossil fuel-driven and exploitative economic system. With Support from corporate lobbyists and powerful supportersThey could exert influence behind the scenes to delay or complicate efforts to formally recognize ecocide.

Ireland can use its position as a wealthy developed economy to address potential concerns and ally with Pacific island nations in the fight for environmental justice.

What specifically can Ireland do to support the proposal? First, it can publicly declare its support for the proposal. This would provide a strong Western voice to support efforts by Pacific island nations to advance this proposal.

Second, it can work behind the scenes to build a coalition of like-minded states that support the proposal. A “green alliance” of this kind would be extremely effective in combating any attempts to prevent an amendment from being approved.

Finally, Ireland can leverage its good reputation as a state Leader in humanitarian issues to bring attention to current acts that could be considered ecocide and to use these examples as a means of further generation public support This ensures that pressure continues to be placed on States to expedite this change and begin initiating the first ecocide investigations as soon as possible.

Ecocide will not solve global pollution, but it will ensure that there is international recognition that large-scale intentional destruction of the environment has strong enforcement mechanisms in place to prevent such destruction.

Ireland must support efforts to make ecocide a crime at the International Criminal Court and do everything in its power to prevent a delay in the formal recognition of ecocide.

Eoin Jackson is a PhD student at the London School of Economics (LSE) and an Irish rapporteur at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law.