02/12/2022 Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The severe destruction or deterioration of nature “that could be qualified as ecocide” may occur in times of peace or war. It is therefore “necessary to codify this notion in both national legislations, as appropriate, and international law” the PACE Committee on Social Affairs said today, while strongly supporting efforts to amend the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court so as to add ecocide as a new crime.
The unanimously adopted draft resolution, based on a report prepared by John Howell (United Kingdom, EC/DA), deplores that existing legal instruments lack universality in terms of ratifications, precision in the terms used and comprehensive coverage of environmental offences. Member States should take all necessary measures to outlaw and prosecute the use of prohibited weapons in the course of armed conflicts that, among other ills, bring disproportionate environmental impact and “render human life in the affected area impossible”.
According to the parliamentarians, the Council of Europe should take the lead in elaborating new legal instruments to guide member States and other states in “preventing massive environmental damage and reducing the scale of such damage as far as possible during armed conflicts and their aftermath”. It should pave the way towards the international recognition of the crime of ecocide.
The adopted draft text will be debated at the Assembly’s next plenary session (Strasbourg, 23-27 January 2023).