If a nation agrees to submit the proposal for ecocide to the International Criminal Court for consideration, then work even harder. Validation is a multi-step process that requires the support of two-thirds or seven-eighths of the court’s members, depending on the type of amendment made. (Vanuatu still supports the campaign, but Covid-19 and the country’s “limited resources for international diplomacy” have thwarted its advocacy for ecocides, said Dreli Solomon, a spokeswoman for Vanuatu’s embassy in Brussels.
Although no country has committed to formally proposing that the court adopt an ecocide, the campaign is underway, fueled by the youth-led climate movement and radical new groups such as Extinction Rebellion.
In December, Belgian Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmès asked member states of the International Criminal Court to investigate the possibility of committing a crime. A member of the Belgian parliament has also proposed a bill to criminalize the murder of criminals. And French lawmakers are working on legislation to punish the murder of an offense punishable by fines and jail time, though Stop Ecocide criticizes the bill as ‘weak’.
At least ten countries already have national homicide laws, including Vietnam, which enacted the law in 1990.
Separately, French lawyers filed a request in January on behalf of indigenous groups from Amazon, asking the International Criminal Court to investigate Bolsonaro of Brazil for crimes against humanity.
The appeal alleges that deforestation encouraged by Bolsonaro’s government and other policies forced indigenous people out of their homes and even led to killings in the region.
While the request is based on citations of crimes already being addressed by the court, the jurists who filed it said the case is also an example of ecocide.
The Brazilian embassy in Washington said in a statement that “the Bolsonaro government is actively working to improve the lives of indigenous peoples and ensure the future of the Amazon.”
The embassy said that more than 70 percent of the eligible indigenous population received initial vaccinations for Covid-19 and that deforestation in the Amazon was 21 percent lower from August to January, compared to the same period a year earlier.
Badenoch said that although the obstacles to accepting a new international crime are great, it is not insurmountable.
“These things take a long time and it’s complicated,” he said. “But it can be done.”
In the mainstream
While the campaign for a law on the murder could last for a year – if it is successful at all – advocates say the attempt could bear fruit much sooner: the campaign has put the concept in public discussion.
Mehta does not expect the campaign to catch fire in the United States, but after four years of President Donald Trump, she is encouraged by the arrival of John Kerry, Biden’s special climate envoy. “We do not expect the US to join the ICC any time soon, but having said that, the conversation surrounding the suicide, we see no reason why it cannot start in the US,” she said.
The State Department issued a statement saying the US “regularly talks to other countries” about “the importance of preventing environmental destruction during armed conflict”, but added: “We do not comment on the details of our communications with foreign governments. “