Converging Standards? Ecocide Laws & Proposals in Comparative Perspective
In this comparative analysis of new and proposed ecocide laws, Zhang and Mackintosh conclude that there has been a clear convergence in the definition of the crime since the Independent Expert Panel definition in 2021.
Why Criminalize Ecocide? Experts weigh in
Amending the Rome Statute is, politically, a Herculean task so no one should expect to see an international prosecution for ecocide anytime soon. However, the advent of this submission by states who have been at the forefront of pushing international law to grapple with the realities of climate change spotlights a vital question:
What do engaged stakeholders imagine that the international criminalization of ecocide can achieve?
A Very English Water Crises
Safe and sufficient water is one of the six substantive elements of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
Despite this, the UK is presently experiencing a water crisis, played out in the dire ecological status of its waterways. In a series of scandals, water companies have been criminally prosecuted for discharging raw sewage during dry weather and failing in their sewage-treatment duties, while government enforcement has been criticised as insufficient.