Ecocide: From the Vietnam War to International Criminal Jurisdiction? Procedural Issues In-Between Environmental Science, Climate Change, and Law

Abstract

The crime of ‘ecocide’ has been discussed for almost 50 years and is of increasing relevance. Starting as scientific and biological debates during the Vietnam War, ecocide arguments became foremost political and then juridical. Recently in 2021, the ‘Stop Ecocide Foundation’ proposed to add ecocide as a new crime to the International Criminal Court (ICC) Rome Statute (RS), recommending amendments regarding substantive law and the structure of the crime of ecocide. This paper does not argue against this proposal. On the contrary, following an examination of the history of the crime of ecocide, it puts forward an integrative proposal focused on procedural issues, suggesting seven macro-amendments involving jurisdiction ratione temporis and the withdrawal process, standards of proof, issues of admissibility, the prosecutorial discretion and the UN Security Council powers, as well as a new definition of aggravated ecocide in case of Substantial Impact on Greenhouse Gas Emissions or Climate Change.

Keywords: ecocide, international criminal court, international criminal law, criminal procedure, environmental law, environmental science, vietnam war, war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, environment

JEL Classification: K14, K33, K41, K42, I100, I10, K32