Pacific Island leaders urge rich countries to do more to help control climate change
FOX NewsMAR 13 2023
On Monday, Vanuatu, Fiji, and Samoa presented a court proposal to the International Criminal Court (ICC), requesting the classification of environmental destruction, or ecocide, as a crime alongside genocide and war crimes.On Monday, Vanuatu, Fiji, and Samoa presented a court proposal to the International Criminal Court (ICC), requesting the classification of environmental destruction, or "ecocide," as a crime on par with war crimes and genocide.
According to the proposal, ecocide is defined as "unlawful or wanton acts, committed with knowledge that those acts have a substantial likelihood of causing severe and/or widespread or long-term damage to the environment."According to the proposal, ecocide is defined in the proposal as "unlawful or wanton acts, committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment, being caused by those acts."
Vanuatu was the first nation to request for ICC ecocide designation in 2019. According to the country's special envoy for climate change, Ralp Regenvanu, the world community must take this debate seriously.Vanuatu was the first nation to request for ICC ecocide designation in 2019. According to the country's special envoy for climate change, Ralp Regenvanu, legal recognition of ecocide is an important step towards justice and deterring further environmental destruction.
Ecocide, the destruction of nature, should be a global crime. Revising the Rome Statute of the ICC would criminalize environmental devastation, the fourth most lucrative unlawful activity in the world, which costs $258B annually. This designation would enable the Paris Agreement to force nations to reduce emissions. A global climate emergency would require us to modify the laws; existing regulations will not save the planet.
It is admirable to devote so much time and effort to developing the notion of ecocide, but it is far from acceptable to everyone. The definition needs additional work. However, the exercise has always had a symbolic nature because it is unlikely that two-thirds of state parties will approve an ecocide amendment. Those states most prone to ecocide would likely reject the amendment. Additionally, the US, China, India, and Russia, which are not signatories to the ICC, further complicate the situation.