Summary
On February 22, 2024, Belgium’s Federal Parliament voted in favor of a new penal code for the country, which, for the first time in Europe, includes recognition of the crime of ecocide at both the national and international levels. Nationally, the new crime of ecocide, aimed at preventing and punishing the most severe cases of environmental degradation, such as extensive oil spills, will apply to individuals in the highest positions of decision-making power and to corporations. Ecocide will be considered a serious crime at level six in the new penalty scale (which has eight levels). The punishment for individuals may include up to 20 years in prison, while corporations could face fines of up to 1.6 million euros. Belgium is now the twelfth country to add the crime of ecocide to its statute books.
However, there is limited domestic scope of the new bill. Within Belgium, domestic environmental legislation is primarily the responsibility of the three regional governments of Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels. The scope of this new law is limited to areas within the jurisdiction of Belgium’s federal authority, such as the North Sea and nuclear waste management.
In July 2021, a draft resolution was submitted to the Belgian Parliament to include ecocide in the Belgian Criminal Code, but in December 2021, Belgian MP, Samuel Cogolati, tabled a law proposal to introduce the concept. In May 2022, the Belgian Expert Commission advised to include ecocide in the revision of the Penal Code. The definition they proposed is: “deliberately committing an unlawful act causing serious, widespread and long-term damage to the environment knowing that such acts cause such damage.” In November 2022, the Belgian government formally proposed its inclusion, a move championed by Zakia Khattabi, the Minister of Environment. On July 20, 2023, the new crime of ecocide was officially included in the new draft penal code, with Parliamentary approval required for it to become law.
A coalition of more than 20 organizations operating in Belgium came together on the issue, including Stop Ecocide International, Greenpeace, Canopea, Rise for Climate, Youth for Climate, Climate Justice for Rosa, the Climate Coalition, Fondation européen pour le droit du vivant, Kaya, Extinction Rebellion, and Grandparents for Climate.