EU Council votes to criminalize “cases comparable to ecocide”

Cases comparable to ecocide will be criminal in the EU. Member states have 24 months to implement the directive “Protection of the environment through criminal law”.
EU flag-3370970_1280

  • The European Council has formally adopted a new environmental crime directive, which includes provision to criminalise cases ‘comparable to ecocide’.

  • This is the latest and final vote on the new Directive and follows approval by the European Parliament in February and a landmark political agreement between the European Council, Commission and Parliament in November 2023.

  • This vote marks the conclusion of the Directive’s legislative journey, which gained significant momentum in March 2023 when the European Parliament announced its support for the inclusion of ecocide legislation.

  • Member states will now have a 24 month period, via the so-called ‘transposition’ process, in which to align national legislation with the newly adopted directive.

Information courtesy of Stop Ecocide International.

Share this post

Other articles

Official side event on ecocide law

The 23rd Session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court featured an official side event on ecocide law, hosted by Vanuatu, Samoa, Fiji and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Bar Association event on Ecocide and Corruption

A recent Swedish Bar Association event on ecocide and corruption featured Kate Mackintosh, a professor and director of the UCLA Law Promise Institute Europe; Parul Sharma, Secretary-General of the Swedish Anti-Corruption Institute; and Alf Blomqvist, Chair of Scandinavian Enviro Systems; – and a packed auditorium.

Business leaders for Ecocide Law at COP 29

“This is almost like an obvious, missing link in how you run the society, and it is also about creating a level playing-field,” says Fredrik Nilzén, Head of Sustainability at Scania.

Fourteen business leaders in Dagens Industri

In a timely op-ed in Dagens Industri, just ahead of the annual meeting of International Criminal Court members in the Hague, fourteen Swedish business leaders encourage the Swedish government to take a pioneering role in the EU, by engaging for ecocide to be made a crime within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

Ecocide Law Alliance broadcast from COP29

Business Leaders for Ecocide Law – Nov 13th at 14:10 CET

Approved by 1% for the Planet!

Ecocide Law Alliance has been accepted as environmental partner by the prestigious 1% for the Planet network.
Visit the news archive

Ecocide Law Alliance is a foundation with the purpose to work for the introduction of the crime of ecocide in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Sign up to our newsletter here

Website designed & developed by Azote

Linkedin

Get in touch by sending the secretariat an email at contact@ecocidelawalliance.org


Privacy policy