African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN): declaring ecocide as a continental priority

Summary

In July 2025 during the 20th African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN), African Environment Ministers formally agreed to include ecocide in the continent’s environmental priorities for the 2025-2027 biennium, marking the first time ecocide was explicitly recognized as a strategic continental priority.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) played a leading role in this outcome, having previously submitted a motion calling for ecocide to be recognized as a serious environmental crime and consistently advocating for its criminalization at the International Criminal Court. During AMCEN, the DRC’s previous Environment Minister Ève Bazaiba emphasized strong support for Pacific Island states’ proposal to make ecocide a fifth core international crime and urged fellow African ministers to back the DRC’s motion. The Republic of Congo and Burundi formally joined the DRC in endorsing the criminalization of ecocide during their national statements.