The number of crimes against the environment in the last 40 years is devastating and the consequences for humanity are irreversible. Until now, these cases of ecocide end up in civil justice, and the sentences are only fines.
Ecocide: He Council of Europe has given the green light to the new Environmental Crimes Directivewhich includes a provision to criminalize cases “comparable to ecocide«. With that, The last requirement for the full approval of the text of the new Directive is metafter a long process of agreements and voting in the different levels of the European Union.
Member States will now have a period of 24 months, through the so-called ‘transposition’ process, to adapt national legislation to the newly adopted Directive.
On March 26, after a long process of legislative procedures and voting that has lasted more than a year, The Council of Europe has approved by an overwhelming majority the final text of the new Directive on the protection of the environment through criminal law.
The review of the previous Directive gained significant momentum in March 2023 when the European Parliament announced its support for the inclusion of ecocide legislation. This was followed by the historic political agreement between the European Council, the Commission and the Parliament in November 2023. Finally, a month ago, the European Parliament again voted in favor of the text of the Directive, with the Council of Europe being the establishment to have the last word.
The number of behaviors that will constitute an environmental crime has increased from nine to twenty. These include timber trafficking, illegal recycling of polluting ship components and serious breaches of chemicals legislation.
It is relevant to note that the new standard incorporates a new clause on “qualified crimes” which applies when an offense covered by the Directive is committed intentionally and causes destruction of the environment or irreversible or lasting damage to it (i.e. when it causes a ecocide).
Jojo Mehta, co-founder and CEO of Stop Ecocide International, said:
«The European Union’s historic decision to include crimes comparable to ecocide in its new Environmental Crimes Directive demonstrates leadership and compassion, and will strongly reinforce existing environmental legislation across the region.. It will establish a clear moral and legal “red line”, creating essential guidance for European industry leaders and policy makers going forward.
In March 2023, the European Parliament demonstrated its ambition by advocating the inclusion in European law of criminal provisions aimed at preventing and punishing the most serious environmental damage. With today’s vote, the Council of Europe signs and seals this remarkable new piece of legislation.
This pioneering Directive has significant implications, not only for the safeguarding of the environment in Europe, but for humanity as a whole: it connects the regional with the global, sending a strong signal of political support to the international legal recognition of ecocide that will be felt throughout the planet.”