Summary
On September 13, 2023, a new bill to criminalize ecocide was formally submitted to the Italian Parliament by the Greens and Left Alliance (Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra), supported by Stop Ecocidio Italia and Stop Ecocide International. The proposed bill is directly based on the wording of the legal definition of ecocide formulated by the Independent Expert Panel convened by the Stop Ecocide Foundation in 2021: “unlawful or arbitrary acts committed in knowledge of a substantial likelihood of causing serious and widespread or lasting harm to the environment”. Parliamentary debate and votes are set to take place in the coming months.
Italy joins the EU, Mexico, Brazil, the Netherlands, Scotland, Spain (Catalunya), and Belgium in having ecocide bills at various stages of proposal.