Rome Statute of the International Crime Court: ecocide amendment

Summary

On December 3, 2019, Vanuatu formally proposed an amendment to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to criminalize ecocide, marking the first such international initiative since Swedish Premier Olof Palme raised the issue at the 1972 UN Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. Ambassador John Licht, speaking on behalf of Vanuatu to the full ICC Assembly plenary, emphasized that acts causing severe, widespread, or long-term environmental damage should be recognized as crimes.

In 2020, the ‘Independent Expert Panel for the Legal Definition of Ecocide’ was launched by the Stop Ecocide Foundation in order to draft a proposal for a fifth crime under the Rome Statute of the International Crime Court by giving a legal definition of ecocide. In June of 2021, the expert drafting panel concluded their drafting work and defined ecocide as “unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts.” Examples could include, massive oil or chemical spills, the clearcutting of primary rainforests, or the destruction of entire river systems.

With a legal definition established, the 2019 declaration was amplified again by Vanuatu, Fiji, and Samoa on September 9, 2024, when the three nations formally submitted a proposed amendment to the Rome Statute to include the crime of “ecocide,” initiating formal consideration by ICC member states. If adopted, ecocide would become the fifth international crime under the Court’s jurisdiction, and hold the same legal seriousness of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. “We are taking bold and necessary action to address these challenges and encourage other vulnerable states to take note of our newly tabled proposal to bring ecocide to the ICC. Vanuatu considers it imperative that the international community takes this conversation seriously, and we warmly invite all member states to engage. Legal recognition of severe and widespread environmental harm holds significant potential to ensure justice and, crucially, to deter further destruction.” (Ralph Regenvanu, Special Envoy for Climate Change and Environment for the Republic of Vanuatu).

The initiative has received increasing international support. On October 31, 2024, the Democratic Republic of the Congo publicly declared its support for establishing ecocide as an international crime at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP16) in Cali, Colombia—the first African nation to do so. The previous DRC State Minister and Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Her Excellency Ève Bazaiba Masudi, stated, “when there is a violation of ecosystems, for those responsible to be punished and held accountable for their actions, and for the destruction of ecosystems to be made a crime recognised under Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.” and that “By supporting this initiative, we protect our natural heritage and send a clear message that environmental crimes will not go unpunished.” The DRC reaffirmed its commitment to recognize ecocide as an international crime at the 2025 African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN), when in a national statement, Ève Bazaiba Masudi, announced the DRC’s official submission of a motion calling for ecocide to be treated as a serious environmental crime.

The Rome Statute has not yet adopted the proposed amendment.

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