The last time a new international criminal offence was introduced was after World War II. The Nuremberg and Tokyo Charters added crimes against humanity to the existing war crimes, enshrining the idea that certain acts are so egregious they concern us all.
As floods, wildfires, record-high temperatures and zoonotic disease make the climate and ecological crisis impossible to ignore, the world may be moving closer to agreeing that serious damage to our natural environment is more than just a matter for goodwill agreements. It may amount to an international crime.Nuremberg
Two thresholds must be met for acts to constitute the crime. First, there must be a substantial likelihood that they will cause severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment. Severity is necessary in all circumstances, and the likely damage must be either widespread , or long-term .
And some legally permitted acts that harm the environment are socially desirable: consider desperately needed housing, transport, or infrastructure projects. In such cases, international environmental law sets out principles — above all the principle of sustainable development — according to which states should behave. The term “wanton” in the ecocide definition serves an equivalent purpose, addressing legally permitted acts that are reckless, owing to the disproportionate level of likely harm.
Criminalising ecocide could have a stronger deterrent effect than the prospect of genocide or war crimes charges do, because it is largely a corporate offense. Because a company’s value depends heavily on its reputation and investor confidence, managers would have much to lose by finding themselves in the same dock as a war criminal .
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