Summary
In November 2021, the Global Citizens’ Assembly voted that ecocide should be codified as a crime in national and international laws. The recommendation was among multiple policy initiatives endorsed by the Global Citizens’ Assembly, which were presented to world leaders at the COP26 Climate Conference in the United Kingdom.
The Global Citizens’ Assembly (GCA) is a deliberative democracy forum that convenes randomly selected, representative citizens to make recommendations on complex global issues. The GCA is a joint initiative of multiple organizations, including the Iswe Foundation and the Danish Board of Technology. The GCA first gathered at COP26 and has since assembled at COP30. As a part of the People’s Declaration for the Sustainable Future of Planet Earth, the GCA declared “the importance of Nature having intrinsic values and rights, and in all beings on Earth forming an interconnected whole.” With this recognition, the GCA then declared “we must protect Nature from Ecocide legally, engaging communities and establishing multiple governing bodies to enable this.” As a part of codifying ecocide in law, the GCA called for international and national governments to criminalize ecocide and for governments to promote community awareness of ecocide through education.
Involved Organizations
Suggested Citation:
Kauffman, Craig, Catherine Haas, Alex Putzer, Shrishtee Bajpai, Kelsey Leonard, Elizabeth Macpherson, Pamela Martin, Alessandro Pelizzon & Linda Sheehan. Eco Jurisprudence Monitor. V2. 2025. Distributed by the Eco Jurisprudence Monitor.https://ecojurisprudence.org/initiatives/global-citizens-assembly-call-for-ecocide/.
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