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Ecology

Ecocide as a Rome Statute crime

A proposed fifth ICC crime. It is not in the Statute. Some countries have written national ecocide offences: that is not the same thing.

The International Criminal Court building in The Hague: the court whose Statute this idea would amend
Image: OSeveno ( CC BY-SA 4.0 )

This text is a proposal.

Ecology Ideas Proposal to the International Criminal Court Assembly of States Parties

Official name: Proposed amendment to add “ecocide” as a crime under the Rome Statute
Citation: Independent Expert Panel definition (June 2021); proposal presented by Vanuatu, Fiji, and Samoa (September 2024)
Year / status: Idea / treaty-amendment proposal. Not adopted. Discussed in the ASP Working Group on Amendments; Vanuatu told the group in October 2025 it would not table the text for adoption at that year’s Assembly.

What it does

The 2021 panel defined ecocide, in draft, as unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge of a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term environmental damage. The idea is to add that as a fifth crime next to genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and aggression. Amending the Rome Statute needs a large majority of States Parties and then ratifications.

Where it applies / status

Nowhere as ICC law. Separate national crimes (for example Belgium’s 2024 ecocide offence, or later national statutes) apply only in those countries. They do not create ICC jurisdiction.

Documented benefits or intended effects

Intended effect: personal criminal liability for the most severe environmental destruction, and a deterrent signal. There is no ICC case law on a standalone ecocide count because the crime is not in the Statute.

Caveats

This card is an idea, not a statute in force at the Court. A campaign definition is not an adopted article. National ecocide laws are worth watching and are not this proposal.

Sources

Stop Ecocide legal-definition page; ICC ASP Working Group on Amendments report (ICC-ASP-24-26); Rome Statute text as in force.