“ECOCIDE” is a word to describe what is happening to our planet; the mass damage and destruction of the natural living world.  It literally means “killing one’s home”.

And right now, in most of the world, no-one is held responsible.

It’s time to change the rules.        It’s time to protect our home.

We are working, together with a growing global network of lawyers, diplomats, and across all sectors of civil society, towards making ecocide an international crime.

The ocean is our Mother.

We evolved from her.

• She provides 50% of the air we breathe and currently is absorbing the energy of human induced heat equivalent to 7 Hiroshima atom bombs per second!

• At the same time, we discharge 80% of the world’s untreated sewage into the ocean; dump our plastic and chemicals, we pollute, we overfish, we mine.

• Without the ocean, our global surface temperatures would hit 50 degrees celsius; right now its service is maintaining global surface temperatures at 15 degrees centigrade.

• We are treating Mother Ocean extraordinarily badly! This is not only affecting us but the future of our children and grandchildren. We are currently bad ancestors.

• This is not a fringe concept! It is the next common-sense (and overdue) step towards protecting the natural world in which we rely on for our survival as a species.

STOP Ecocide exists to amend the Rome Statute of the International Criminal   (ICC) to include Ecocide, alongside genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, as the 5^th International Crime. Its wording is:

“Ecocide” means unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts.

~ Independent Expert Panel for the Legal Definition of Ecocide, June 2021

This is why dozens of nations and indigenous leaders have already come out in support of it. And leaders such as Sylvia Earle, Pope Francis, António Guterres and Vanessa Natake have also publicly endorsed it.

Current legal ocean protections are so complicated and convoluted they tend to trip themselves up making it harder to protect marine wildlife and ecosystems than it is to abuse it. That is why we need more protection for the ecosystem itself and those that live in them.

The concept of an Ecocide law, which aims to criminalise acts that cause significant harm to ecosystems and the environment is gaining traction on land.   It has great potential to protect the ocean- which is why we are keen to build an Ocean Network for Ecocide Law

Vanuatu and Pacific Nations, Mexico, Brazil, Belgium Council of Europe and even the Pope have endorsed it.    We are inviting people to endorse the open letter  and bring Ecocide into their conversations about the ocean.  Please join us today.

TAKE ACTION TODAY

1.    Sign and share the open letter

2.    Reach out to policy makers you know or people who can influence greater discussion

3.    Ensure you talk about ecocide in all ocean discussions

4.    Send a photo of yourself with a short sentence why having ecocide law as a crime would be beneficial to our ocean.

5.    If you work in policy and are keen to advance this cause within your sphere of influence, reach out to have a private briefing info@gallifrey.foundation

We need an ocean of voices to protect our ocean. Please join the many who have already signed in protecting our ocean

Five reasons we need an Ecocide Law for the Ocean.

It can:

1. HELP CURB the irreversible damage to marine ecosystems caused by harmful human activities, such as over-extraction, pollution, and ocean warming.
2. IMPOSE PENALTIES on those who cause this damage by providing legal recognition to the harm being inflicted on the ocean and its biodiversity.
3. ENABLE GOVERNMENTS to send a clear signal to corporations and individuals they must take action to reduce their carbon footprint and protect the ocean.
4. ENCOURAGE THE DEVELOPMENT of long-term sustainable practices and technologies to benefit both the ocean and human society. Since many activities that harm the ocean, such as overfishing and pollution, are driven by a desire for short-term economic gain.
5. RECOGNISE the fundamental right of marine life to live in a healthy and balanced environment free from harm.

Nature’s Rights & Ecocide Law – What are they and what can they do for the ocean?

By Deborah Rowan Wright

Across the world, thousands of people are working to protect the ocean and marine life. They are fishers, scientists, supporters and staff of conservation organisations, lawyers, policy-advisors, and treaty negotiators. They are film-makers, teachers, divers, sailors, patrol boat crews, mangrove re- foresters, beach cleaners, and more. The accumulated impact of their achievements is incalculable. And yet, despite so much effort and enterprise, the evidence shows that the health of the ocean continues to decline.

We have to conclude that as invaluable as they are, current protection strategies aren’t enough to keep the ocean safe from further harm, or enable it to recover from decades of damage and over- exploitation.

The question is, what more can be done?

The answer may be found by taking apart the problem we want to solve and separating the cause from the effect. The ocean’s decline is manifest in polluted and overfished waters, demolished undersea and coastal habitats, large-scale loss of wildlife, and warming and more acidic seas – caused by over-extractive and irresponsible industries, policymakers who ignore scientific advice, and governments which fail to enforce marine protection laws.

But the real driving force behind this global catastrophe is a political and economic culture that consistently prioritises money-making over nature.

The challenge is to change society’s relationship with the natural world – from one of harmful over-exploitation, to one of respect, responsibility, and care. And although that may seem unattainable, change is already on the way. It’s evident in wider public awareness and concern, and in more ambitious conservation programmes at local, national, and international levels. The problem is the change we urgently need is happening too slowly.

To speed things up, a growing number of people are calling for serious destruction of nature to be an international crime – the crime of ecocide.

Crimes against Nature – otherwise known as Ecocide

Four core international crimes were identified under the Rome Statute, the treaty which established the International Criminal Court (ICC). They are crimes of aggression, war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity (which include murder, slavery, torture, and rape). International criminal law enables those who commit the most serious offenses against the global community to be brought to justice and stopped.

For ocean protection, Ecocide law can play a crucial role, because destructive industries are not self-operating entities – they have managers, boards of directors and CEOs who are making the decisions which lead to polluted waters, overfished seas, and trashed habitats. Consequently, recognising ecocide as a crime will mean culpable individuals can be prosecuted and sentenced if found guilty. That will be a powerful deterrent to damaging industries and a pressing incentive to adopt nature-friendly practices instead.

Rights of Nature

Closely linked to the campaign for Ecocide law, the Rights of Nature movement is also pushing for a cultural shift in favour of the natural world. It holds that nature has intrinsic rights to exist and thrive, free from human-caused over-exploitation and ruin. They are granted to protect rivers, forests, wetlands, lakes, and mountains, while obliging citizens to have greater respect for wild places and their wildlife. Rights of Nature are officially recognised in several countries, including Ecuador, Uganda, Mexico, Spain, India, Colombia, Panama, and New Zealand, as they become incorporated into laws and constitutions.

Spreading from mountains and down rivers, the movement has now reached the sea. The campaign to establish a Universal Declaration of Ocean Rights is led by a collective of organisations, including The Ocean Race, Ocean Vision Legal, Earth Law Center, and the government of Cabo Verde.

In September 2023, the group presented a document to the UN General Assembly in New York encouraging member States to start a dialogue on Ocean Rights.

“This initiative aims to empower the ocean with a voice in decisions that affect her, laying an ethical foundation for a sustainable future.” Prime Minister of Cabo Verde, Ulisses Correia e Silva.

Formalising ocean rights will give the ocean a metaphorical voice, bolstering its position at the negotiation table and highlighting the importance of having a healthy and vibrant ocean. And, in the same way human rights form the moral foundation for laws to prevent crimes like murder and genocide, a Declaration of Ocean Rights (UDOR) can provide the foundation on which to build Ecocide law to protect the ocean.

Ready to take action? Join the thousands who have already signed our Open Letter and be part of the global movement to secure the legislation we need for the ocean protection we want.

Click here

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Deborah Rowan Wright specializes in ocean conservation law and is the author of Future Sea: How to Rescue and Protect the World’s Oceans‘  

As many of us know, the ocean faces serious existential threats from pollution, industrial fishing, habitat destruction, loss of wildlife, and warming and more acidic seas. Present conservation counter-actions make an enormous difference, but the evidence shows that we need to do more to stop the ocean’s decline.

Many conservationists are encouraged by two related strategies on the horizon to join the battle to save the sea. They are the campaigns for a UN Declaration of Ocean Rights (UDOR) and to urge the International Criminal Court (ICC) to make large-scale nature destruction an international crime – known as ecocide.

While the principles laid out in a Declaration of Ocean Rights provide the moral foundation to protect the ocean from human harm, ecocide law can provide a supranational legal mechanism to help achieve that (although it’s not necessary for an ocean rights declaration to be in place for ecocide to be made a crime).

Destructive and excessive fishing, marine plastic and chemical pollution, undersea mining in biodiverse-rich areas, most marine fish-farming, and detrimental coastal development happen as a result of individuals, or groups of individuals making irresponsible decisions, often in full knowledge of the damage their actions cause. When ecocide is made an international crime, those high-level decision-makers, whether they are in government, industry or the financial sector, could be made accountable. Ecocide law will enable them to be charged and sentenced if found guilty.

Let’s say a fisheries minister sets catch limits for several commercial-value fish species that are far above the scientific advice he is given, because he bowed to pressure from the fishing industry to keep quotas high. As a result, those fish populations plummet, which has a devastating impact on the entire region’s marine ecosystem. There are no longer enough mature fish in the sea to reproduce and replenish the overfished species, so that many other forms of dependent marine life, including seabirds, mammals, crustaceans and other types of fish are left without sufficient food. In turn, their populations also tumble.

A few people in positions of authority created a completely avoidable ecological breakdown in the sea. In this hypothetical case, if ecocide law were in place, the fisheries minister and the CEOs and senior managers of the fishing corporations could be prosecuted. And, even if they were not found guilty, just the possibility of prosecution and a custodial sentence would be enough to make other decision-makers think twice about continuing with nature-wrecking policies and practices, helping to pave the way towards a cultural and operational shift in favour of the ocean.

However, as promising as it is to see the ecocide campaign gaining ground, there are significant hurdles to overcome before it can be formally recognised as a crime by the International Criminal Court.

How ecocide can become an international crime

The International Criminal Court was established by its governing treaty, the Rome Statute. To make ecocide an international crime, a Head of State must propose an amendment to the treaty, three months before the annual meeting of the member States. With a simple majority, the proposed amendment can then be considered. It may progress via formal and informal discussion between representatives of the member states, or be debated at a Crime Review Conference. When at least two-thirds of members are in favour, the amendment can be adopted into the Rome Statute (currently 82 out of 123).

Many small island States are supporters of ecocide law, because they are especially at risk from rising sea-levels, more extreme weather patterns, loss of coral reefs, or industrial trawlers overfishing traditional fishing grounds. And, as each member State has equal voting power, no matter their size, there’s a good chance of ecocide being included in the Rome Statute in the future.

Predicted limitations of ecocide law

When ecocide becomes the 5th international crime, which I believe it will, there will be limitations on what the law can achieve in practice. For example, there’s the question of cause, blame, and responsibility. Rarely is the source of an environmental crisis as clear-cut as in the overfishing scenario described above. In many cases, attributing blame may not be straightforward. The causes and effects of environmental crimes are often complex and multi-faceted and it can be challenging to pinpoint who is ultimately responsible. A prosecutor would also have to prove that the accused party was fully aware of the damage their policies and actions would cause, which might be difficult to do.

Growing political momentum

There’s a way to go before nature-destruction is outlawed at an international level, but it is already codified in the domestic laws of several countries, such as Ecuador, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, France, Russia, Ukraine, and Chile. A major boost to the movement came in November 2023 when the European Union agreed to establish a new ‘qualified offence’ to prevent long-term or irreversible environmental damage ‘comparable to ecocide’.

And, in February 2024, Belgium became the first European Union country to legislate against ecocide at both national and international levels.

‘Nationally, the new crime of ecocide, aimed at preventing and punishing the most severe cases of environmental degradation, such as extensive oil spills, will apply to individuals in the highest positions of decision-making power and to corporations. The punishment for individuals may include up to 20 years in prison, while corporations could face fines of up to 1.6 million euros’.

Stop Ecocide International.

Meanwhile, passing ecocide law is being considered elsewhere, including in Brazil, Scotland, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Mexico.

Despite the anticipated hurdles and flaws, criminalising ecocide will be an important sign that the international community has grasped the gravity of large-scale environmental destruction and of the need to stop it. And, perhaps more importantly, it will motivate more countries to enact stricter nature-protection laws within their own territories.

You can help protect the ocean by signing the open letter calling on governments to make ecocide an international crime. Please go to: open letter for the ocean

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Deborah Rowan Wright specialises in ocean conservation law and is the author of ‘Future Sea: How to Rescue and Protect the World’s Oceans’