Youth for Ecocide Law Collaborate with World’s Youth for Climate Justice and discuss important issues
Laila Martins (Y4EL) raises important issues that are integral to both youth campaigns while answering questions posed by Maëlle Blacharz (WYCJ).
What does ecocide law mean for Y4EL?
The term "ecocide law" refers to the legal framework that seeks to criminalize activities causing severe and widespread damage to ecosystems or the environment. In particular, it refers to the goal of making en-masse environmental destruction an international crime at the International Criminal Court, and a crime in domestic legal systems around the globe. For the Youth for Ecocide Law movement, an ecocide law would represent a significant achievement, as it would provide us with a powerful tool to hold governments, corporations, and individuals accountable for environmental destruction. The movement includes hundreds of young people from around the world who are advocating for the recognition and implementation of ecocide law to protect the planet and ensure a sustainable future for themselves and future generations.
2. How can the ICJ AO on climate change help the Y4EL campaign?
The International Court of Justice's Advisory Opinion (AO) on climate change can help the Youth for Ecocide Law campaign by providing authoritative legal guidance on the responsibility of states and other actors for addressing the adverse effects of climate change. The AO can bolster the campaign's arguments by clarifying the legal obligations of states and non-state actors to protect the environment and prevent ecocide.
This is important, because the current proposed legal definition of ecocide refers to "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." In order for a court to find that an act constitutes ecocide, they would thus need to prove that it is already unlawful or wanton (in reckless disregard of the potential damage). Clarifying states' obligations under international law to act on climate could help states understand what kinds of decisions are not legally permissible, and could therefore constitute ecocide. This clarity would provide a strong guardrail inside of which states could align themselves, taking actions that are less destructive to the Earth's climate.
Additionally, an ICJ AO can help the global climate movement gain traction and credibility by demonstrating that the issue is a matter of global concern, which warrants international legal intervention.
Both the movement for ecocide law at the ICC and the movement for an AO from the ICJ understand one very basic fact; the fact that climate change does not respect borders. Ecological breakdown is, at its root, a cross-cutting issue that must be addressed globally with every tool at our disposal. In this way, the two movements are 100% complementary to one another's objectives.
3. What could be the legal outcomes of criminalizing ecocide for future generations' right to a clean and healthy environment?
The legal outcomes of criminalizing ecocide for future generations' right to a clean and healthy environment could be numerous and far-reaching. Some potential outcomes include:
a) Enhanced accountability: Right now, when top corporate or government officials make economic decisions that may cause large-scale environmental harm, their primary concerns are short sighted: make near-term profits, please shareholders, appease voters, minimize costs, and so on. There is no law requiring them to prioritize the long-term ecological implications of their actions. By criminalizing ecocide, this can be changed. Decision-makers can be held legally accountable for their decisions that cause long-term harm to the Earth and the rights of future generations. This has the potential to deter potential offenders and encourage more sustainable choices.
b) Stronger environmental protection: A legal framework that criminalizes ecocide can lead to more robust policies and enforcement mechanisms for environmental conservation, ensuring that ecosystems are better protected for the benefit of future generations.
c) Increased awareness: Ecocide will be added as a fifth international crime beside the current four crimes (genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes of aggression), which are seen as the most severe acts for which an individual can be convicted. This will sends a message that environmental destruction must be treated with the utmost seriousness. The recognition of ecocide as a crime can raise awareness about the importance of environmental protection, empowering individuals, communities, and organizations to take action and hold those responsible for environmental harm to account.
d) Enhancing existing laws: Right now, countries around the globe have legislation that imposes fines for pollution, regulates mining, and otherwise aims to preserve the environment. However, all this legislation sits on a void; a void wherein we have not named the worst harms against nature -the most egregious environmental violations- as crimes. Once we have a baseline criminal law that prohibits the worst forms of environmental damage, all this existing legislation can be strengthened. Accountability for the worst violations will be enhanced. What's more, criminalizing ecocide can establish a legal precedent to expand environmental protections and create new laws to further safeguard the rights of future generations to a clean and healthy environment.
e) International cooperation: The establishment of ecocide law can encourage global collaboration on environmental issues, fostering shared responsibility and promoting sustainable development across borders.
