The OTP Policy on Addressing Environmental Damage through the Rome Statute has been launched this Thursday at the Assembly of States Parties to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. 

This document is the outcome of an extensive global consultation on how international criminal law can better respond to severe environmental harm (an area where accountability is widely recognised as urgent).

H𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦?

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘜𝘬𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦'𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘳 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦?

The groundbreaking  Environmental War Crimes Guide for Ukrainian prosecutors [climatecounsel.org/warcrimes] is being transformed into a global 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 for application both in conflict and beyond.

The criminalisation of ecocide is coming, both domestically and internationally. The real question for us, especially in the business and human rights community, is: what difference will it make? How will the emergence of ecocide as a crime strengthen and complement businesses’ obligations to conduct human rights and environmental due diligence?

Watch Kate Mackintosh reflect on this question at the UN Business and Human Rights Forum, Geneva, 24 November 2025

Inspiring words from London based climate educator and founder of The Peoples Ark, Samia Dumbuya, at our International Conference on Ecocide, Human Rights and Environmental Justice.

Samia is working to achieve people powered climate action and inclusive decision making so communities can shape just climate futures. 

Dr Farah Faizal, former Maldivian diplomat, opened the panel Human Rights and Environmental Stewardship at our recent conference on Ecocide, Human Rights and Environmental Justice, with a call to action, a reminder that talk alone is not enough and that practical work must follow.

Baroness Rosie Boycott opened the conference with a thoughtful keynote address. 

She reflected on themes that would reappear throughout the day, beginning with the contrast between her own childhood memories of time spent in nature and what her grandchildren now experience. Noting how dramatically these everyday landscapes have changed, she highlighted the importance of recognising that people’s sense of “normal” shifts as the environment deteriorates.

Kate Mackintosh, our ED and vice chair of the independent expert panel for the legal definition of ecocide answers the questions:

Why is the environmental cost of war not on the agenda at COP 30 and could an international crime of ecocide change accountability?

People across the Gaza Strip have been returning to towns and cities badly damaged by the war after a fragile ceasefire took effect in October. Eventually, their lives will be restored and their homes will be built back. But the climate consequences of the war will remain for years to come.

The third panel of the day, Human Rights and Environmental Stewardship, chaired by Dr. Farah Faizal, former High Commissioner of the Maldives, examined how efforts to protect nature intersect with human rights, culture, and inequality.

Lovleen Bhullar spoke about India’s polluted rivers, noting that long before environmental law, local communities had their own systems of stewardship and protection. Dr. Matthew Gillett and Darryl Robinson debated the balance between anthropocentric and ecocentric perspectives, while Daniel Adjin Odonkor brought the discussion to life with the example of small-scale gold mining in Ghana.

The second panel, Accountability and Repair: Defining Justice for the Crime of Ecocide, was chaired by Xuchen Zhang, Legal Advisor at UCLA Law's The Promise Institute for Human Rights (Europe).

The discussion explored the legal complexities of ecocide, including how different applications of mens rea could impact specific cases, and how intent and sentencing might be approached in practice.

The international conference has kicked off with a powerful first panel on Corporations and Colonialism, led by Dr Olivia Lwabukuna.

The panelists not only described how ecocide is happening in Myanmar, Mauritius, Jamaica and across Africa, but also highlighted that ecocide is rarely an accident but an ongoing system reflective of colonialism.

Lisa Oldring is a Senior Fellow with UCLA Law’s Promise Institute Europe and a doctoral candidate at the University of Amsterdam Faculty of Law, where her research focuses on the crime of ecocide from a human rights perspective.

Lisa will discuss the article co-authored with Kate Mackintosh, in which they apply the contemporary proposed definition of the international crime of ecocide to the Alberta oil sands operations.

Catherine Savard is a DPhil in Law candidate at the University of Oxford, where her thesis focuses on ecocide in international law. She holds two master’s degrees, respectively from the University of Oxford (MPhil in Law) and from Laval University (LL.M., hons.).

She will speak at the conference this Friday as part of the panel “Accountability and Repair: Defining Justice for the Crime of Ecocide,“ chaired by Xuchen Zhang.

🎡 Join us in London or online!

📆 31 October 2025

👉 Full Programme & Registration links here

😱 The programme is sold out, but you can still join us online!

The paper Exploring Ecocide and Human Rights in Small Island Developing States by Krishnee Adnarain Appadoo and Jeevesh Augnoo examines how ecocide disproportionately affects Small Island Developing States and Latin American countries, highlighting the links between large-scale environmental destruction, human rights violations, and ongoing colonial and corporate practices.

The authors argue that recognising ecocide as an international crime could strengthen protection for vulnerable communities and promote environmental justice globally.

🎡 Join us in London or online!

📆 31 October 2025

👉 Full Programme & Registration links here

😱 The programme is sold out, but you can still join us online!

Our ED Kate Mackintosh had the honor of addressing the Croatian Bar Association (CBA) this week on the topic “Criminalizing the Mass Destruction of Nature: Ecocide in National and International Law.”, along with Climate Leader and Croatian Attorney at Law Marija Pujo Tadić.

The discussion explored the legal implications of large-scale ecosystem destruction, the role of the International Criminal Court in defining ecocide as a crime, and Croatia’s position in the evolving European and global legal framework.

Jojo founded Stop Ecocide International in 2017 together with the late barrister and legal pioneer Polly Higgins, to advance the recognition of ecocide as a crime at the International Criminal Court. Since then, she has overseen the remarkable growth of the movement, bridging legal developments, diplomatic engagement, and public narrative.

Jojo will speak about the current ecocide movement during the evening event at the Conference on Ecocide, Human Rights and Environmental Justice in London.

🎡 Join us in London or online!

📆 31 October 2025

👉 Full Programme & Registration links here

The time when environmental issues were seen as separate from questions of justice or rights has long gone. Today, there is a growing recognition that human well-being and the natural world are inseparably linked. 

Criminalising ecocide is about recognising that when ecosystems collapse so do the conditions for human dignity. And environmental destruction consistently harms the most marginalised first. Seen through a human rights approach it becomes clear: ecocide is not only an environmental imperative, it is a human rights imperative.

Monica Lennon is a Scottish Labour and Co-operative Member of the Scottish Parliament for Central Scotland, first elected in 2016.

We invited Monica to speak at the upcoming International Conference on Ecocide, Human Rights and Environmental Justice, for her pioneering work to make ecocide a crime.

Her introduction of the (Scotland) Ecocide (prevention) Bill is a landmark moment in Europe, setting out to make severe environmental harm a criminal offence and positioning Scotland at the forefront of efforts to strengthen environmental accountability.

🎡 Join us in London or online!

📆 31 October 2025

👉 Full Programme & Registration links here

Kaeden Watts is an Indigenous rights advocate and policy expert from Aotearoa New Zealand tribes of Tūhoe, Ngāti Maniapoto, and Ngāti Tūwharetoa.

His areas of focus include integrating Indigenous knowledge into climate change responses, promoting environmental justice, and securing equitable health outcomes for Indigenous communities affected by climate crises.

🎡 Join us in London or online!

📆 31 October 2025

👉 Full Programme & Registration links here

We are honoured to announce that Dr. Farah Faizal, retired ambassador and expert on Small Island Developing States (SIDS), will chair Panel 3: Human Rights and Environmental Stewardship at the upcoming International Conference on Ecocide, Human Rights and Environmental Justice.

Dr. Faizal is the first Maldivian woman to earn a Ph.D. and currently is a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London.

🎡 Join us in London or online!

📆 31 October 2025

👉 Full Programme & Registration links here