06/25/2026
Spoiler: Ecocide is what Israel is doing in the Middle East
While the term ecocide dates back to the 1970s, the movement to recognise it formally as a crime was revived in the 2000s by pioneering barrister and co-founder of Stop Ecocide International, Polly Higgins.
With ecosystems more under threat than ever before, the recognition of ecocide (mass harm to nature) as a serious crime has grown exponentially in recent years.
Dive into this The Guardian explainer from Damien Gayle to learn more about progress at the international level, where the Pacific Island states of , and , along with the Democratic Republic of Congo ( ), are championing a historic proposal to establish ecocide as the fifth crime tried at the International Criminal Court - ICC
Read the article: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/may/28/what-is-ecocide-and-could-it-become-a-under-international-law
In addition to ICC progress, the movement for ecocide law is also progressing at pace in regional and domestic jurisdictions.
Ecocide-level crimes have been introduced in Europe through a revised Directive and a new Council of Europe treaty, while the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) last year made ecocide a top continental priority for 2025-27.
In domestic jurisdictions, ecocide legislation has already been passed in France, Belgium, and Mauritius, and legislative proposals are progressing through parliaments in Scotland, Peru, Italy, India, Brazil, FrenchPolynesia, the DRC and others!
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