UN documents say Ecocide was to be the 5th Crime Against Peace

ORIGINAL: Eradicating Ecocide

Polly reports on a groundbreaking discovery; Ecocide was examined for decades by the UN to be included as the fifth Crime Against Peace.

Imagine my surprise when a journalist called me a year ago to ask for my comment on the news that a law of Ecocide had been considered an international crime over 15 years ago. All we had was one document that referred to 3 countries who had objected to it being included as Crime Against Peace.

Today we have a paper trail that takes us back to 1972. The call to make Ecocide an international crime is nothing new – over 7,000 people took to the streets in Stockholm in 1972 to demand that ecocide be a crime. It was the time of the Vietnam War and world leaders had met in Stockholm to resolve environmental issues at an international level for the first time. At the same time, The People’s Forum brought together some of the top experts of the day to discuss ecocide.

Fast forward a decade; 1985 saw the flame of the Law of Ecocide burn brightly again. Most significantly was the draft Code of Crimes Against the Peace and Security of Mankind (precursor to the Rome Statute) which included Ecocide. For a further 11 years the United Nations partook in concerted debate, discussion and research -  one researcher even drafted the Ecocide Convention. What happened next is set out in the research paper, Ecocide is the Missing 5th Crime Against Peace.

This explains why there are already ten countries with national laws in place to make Ecocide a crime.

Launched 19th July 2012 by The Human Rights Consortium at the School of Advanced Studies, University of London, The Ecocide Project will continue to unravel the question as to why it was shelved. Dr Damien Short, who has just taken up the post of Director of the Human Rights Consortium said “the paper provides a foundation of understanding on which we must build; there is more vital work to be done.” The report draws attention to the preamble of the draft Ecocide Convention, where there is the explicit recognition that Ecocide is not always a crime of intent – and that Ecocide is caused in both times of war and peace.

These are words that have just as much relevance today as they did when they were written in the draft Ecocide Convention in 1973:

“Man has consciously and unconsciously inflicted irreparable damage to the environment in times of war and peace.“

My dream is for a world of peace, a world where mass damage and destruction no longer exists. I believe we can live in peaceful enjoyment where both people and planet are put first.

Like the name of the research paper, Ecocide is the missing 5th Crime Against Peace – just imagine; when we close the door to mass damage and destruction a new door will open. When it does close, our world of conflict will end. What will open is the door to the world of peace.

WISH20: End Ecocide by 2020

ORIGINAL: Wish20 End Ecocide By 2020

Imagine it’s 2020 and we’ve achieved the Green Economy.

Is it still possible that Ecocide, the extensive destruction of ecosystems, is still legal and profitable?

So what changed?

Could it be that the extensive destruction of ecosystems itself became illegal and provided an incentive for all the other changes that were necessary to enable the Green Economy?

In March 2010 international barrister and award winning author Polly Higgins proposed to the United Nations that Ecocide be made the fifth Crime Against Peace.

Ecocide is the extensive damage to, destruction of or loss of ecosystem(s) of a given territory, whether by human agency or by other causes, to such an extent that peaceful enjoyment by the inhabitants of that territory has been or will be severely diminished.

The law of Ecocide will enable sustainable development and the United Nations Environmental Program’s vision for a Green Economy. It is an innovative approach that will create a paradigm shift in the global economy and offers the promise that significant change is possible. The law of Ecocide is a new method for achieving a prosperous future for all people because it goes to the core of the environmental issues that are proving so difficult to tackle:

• It is not a small idea that will have incremental benefits;
• It does not treat the symptoms.
• The Law of Ecocide addresses the causes of many environmental issues directly;
• It will end the most extreme forms of environmental destruction;
• It can be realistically achieved because no country has a veto and it initially requires support from only 81 countries.
• It is the missing fifth Crime Against Peace.

The law of Ecocide will work because it will eliminate from most global supply chains the products and services that cause the greatest environmental destruction and so make companies that promote truly renewable solutions significantly more profitable. These companies will experience growth and so will create millions of jobs around the world. This will be good for people, societies, governments and shareholders everywhere. What is needed is an end to Ecocide.

If the world is going to achieve the Green Economy, where all humanity’s needs are delivered within the renewable capacity of the Earth, something significant has to happen to stop major environmental destruction taking place. That significant change, which many have predicted, is the law of Ecocide.

Polly and her legal team are determined to end this era of Ecocide. Find out how you can help. 

Read about Ecocide

Read the Ecocide Act and sentencing guidelines 

Read about our strategy to make Ecocide a crime

Read about what happened at Rio+20