Organised by Harvard International Law Journal
in collaboration with
Stop Ecocide International and Parliamentarians for Global Action
Wednesday 23 March 2022,
1pm EST / 5.00pm GMT (Duration 1h15m)
A litany of environmental harms perpetrated by individuals, companies, and governments are escalating across the globe. These harms are causing devastation in the communities they are affecting, and ultimately threaten the future for all. Though there is widespread agreement that the environment must be protected, international enforcement systems are lacking. Accountability and deterrence for environmental harms constituting ecocide are desperately needed.
The International Criminal Court plays an important role in the promotion of global justice and peace. Currently, its jurisdiction is limited to war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression. To reflect the severity of environmental harms constituting ecocide, and to enhance accountability and deterrence on the international level, the Rome Statute could be amended to expand the Court’s jurisdiction to the crime of ecocide. This event discusses the need to criminalize ecocide, and the advocacy currently underway to expand the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, including the definition of ecocide proposed by Stop Ecocide’s independent expert panel.
This discussion will cover: an introduction to the necessity of criminalising ecocide under the Rome Statute; an overview of the work currently underway by Stop Ecocide, including the Expert Panel's report; discussion of intersection with environmental law principles; next steps from here.
Panelists:
Prof. Philippe Sands QC, University College London / Matrix Chambers
Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Director, Bangladesh Environmental Law Association
Kate Mackintosh, Executive Director, Promise Institute for Human Rights, UCLA School of Law
Brief intervention by:
Jojo Mehta, Executive Director, Stop Eocide International, Chair of the Stop Ecocide Foundation and convenor of the expert panel for the legal definition of ecocide
Ambassador William Roelants de Stappers, on national developments in Belgium
Moderator:
Anthony Abato, is a lawyer devoted to advocacy in the public interest. He has more than ten years of experience practicing law in Canada, the United States, and in the international tribunals in The Hague. He specializes in prosecutions of greed, corruption, terrorism, and the use of force against civilians and non-combatants.