According to the definition of Merriam-Webster Dictionary, ecocide has been defined as “the destruction of large areas of the natural environment as a consequence of human activity”. For the first time the concept has been recorded at the Conference on War and National Responsibility in Washington DC in 1970, where American biologist Arthur Galston proposed a new international agreement to ban ecocide.
Until now, there was only one provision in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, related to War Crimes, which explicitly mentions damage to the environment, which is Article 8(2)(b)(iv).
As Euronews reports, a panel of top international lawyers have published a legal definition of ecocide on June 23 2021. The new legal definition is as follows:
“Ecocide means unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts”.
Such move makes acts of environmental destruction to be prosecuted and condemned by the International Criminal Court, under the same consideration as war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocides and aggression.
According to NBC News, the International Criminal Court has not yet commented on the panel’s efforts.
