Imagining Future Reparations for Environmental Destruction

Abstract

Noting the interconnections between environmental destruction and periods of conflict and mass violence, scholars have explored multiple ways in which international criminal law might be better equipped to respond to such harms. These have included introducing a new crime against the environment, creating specific international environmental courts, and adapting existing frameworks. While recognising the need for more substantive measures in the long term, this chapter considers how existing international criminal frameworks might be used to respond to environmental destruction in the short to medium term. Focusing on options for repair in particular, it considers the ways in which the International Criminal Court’s reparation framework and the Trust Fund for Victim’s assistance mandate might be used to facilitate reparative measures which respond to environmental destruction. It argues that there are three interlinked ways in which this might be done: first, by introducing the concept of ‘eco-sensitive’ reparations and assistance; second, by awarding reparations that explicitly respond to environmental destruction when related to the ICC’s core crimes; and third, by exploring the possibilities of environmentally ‘transformative’ reparations.

Keywords: Environmental Destruction; International Criminal Law; Reparations