Summary
On November 2, 2023 the Nordic Council adopted a recommendation to the Nordic governments to criminalize ecocide – that is, large-scale environmental destruction – and “participate in appropriate discussions at the international level to criminalize serious crimes against the natural environment, both in times of war and times of peace.” The proposal was presented to the Council in 2021, and was given final consideration by a plenary session of the Nordic Council in 2023. The unanimous decision is a result of dedicated negotiations led in large part by Holmström.
The Nordic Council is the official body for inter-parliamentary cooperation between the Nordic countries, and is made up of members of the national parliaments of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and the autonomous regions of Åland. It makes decisions on issues that they call on the Nordic governments to implement. The Council does not have any formal power on its own, but each government has to implement any decisions through its national legislature. This decision means that all Nordic governments have now been formally called upon to actively participate in the global conversation around criminalizing ecocide.
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/nordic-council-recommendation-to-member-governments-to-criminalize-ecocide/.
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