Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe: criminalization of ecocide

Summary

On 25 January 2023, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe passed a Resolution calling on the Council of Europe’s 46 member states to recognize and codify ecocide as a crime in both national legislation and international law, and strongly recommended amending the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to include ecocide as a new crime.

The resolution states:
Severe destruction or deterioration of nature that could be qualified as ecocide may occur in times of peace or war. It is necessary to codify this notion in both national legislation, as appropriate, and international law. The Assembly therefore strongly supports efforts to amend the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, so as to add ecocide as a new crime. It reiterates its call, contained in Resolution 2398 (2021) “Addressing issues of criminal and civil liability in the context of climate change”, as regards the need for “recognising universal jurisdiction for ecocide and the most serious environmental crimes” and introducing “the crime of ecocide into … national criminal legislation”.

The resolution notes that the Council of Europe has developed several legal instruments to protect the environment: the Convention on the Protection of Environment through Criminal Law (ETS No. 172), the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (ETS No. 104, “Bern Convention”) and the Landscape Convention (ETS No.176). However, these conventions do not explicitly cover damage caused by an act of war or military hostilities.

With this in mind, the Assembly calls on the member States of the Council of Europe to “build and consolidate a legal framework for the enhanced protection of the environment in armed conflicts at national, European and international levels” by: (among others) “updating their legal arsenal to criminalise and effectively prosecute ecocide and taking concrete steps to amend the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in order to add ecocide as a new crime.”

The Assembly also calls for: “mapping areas of particular environmental importance or sensitivity, based on existing protected areas (such as world natural heritage sites or natural reserves) and areas that might need to acquire a special protection status, in anticipation of any form of armed conflict, and foreseeing the demilitarisation of such areas in the case of a military conflict;” as well as “deploying sufficient means to ensure proper monitoring and implementation of commitments under the Council of Europe treaties, in particular the Bern Convention and the Landscape Convention.”

Governance Structure
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is one of the two statutory bodies of the Council of Europe, and is comprised of members of the national parliaments of each member state. The Council of Europe is not part of the European Union (EU), and is not to be confused with the European Council or the Council of the European Union*, both of which are EU institutions.

The Council of Europe is an international body with a broader membership of 46-states. The organization is distinct from the European Union (EU); however, no country has ever joined the EU without first belonging to the Council of Europe. Unlike the EU, the Council of Europe cannot make binding laws; however, the council has produced a number of international treaties, including the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the Bern Convention. Provisions from the conventions are incorporated in domestic law in many participating countries. It is also the international body behind the European Court of Human Rights.

As it is not a legislative body, this resolution does not have legal force. Rather, it gives impetus to the global initiative to recognize ecocide at the International Criminal Court.