Six members’ bills had proposed a statement from parliament to the government that it should look into engaging for international ecocide law. Excerpt from committee for foreign affairs statement on the bills:
“the committee believes that there is a great need for an international regulatory framework for extensive, long-term and serious damage to the environment, so-called ecocide,which applies in both peacetime and wartime. The committee thus shares the intention of the bills. The committee also notes that the government has expressed a positive stance on the matter of making an addition in the form of ecocide to the Rome Statute and therefore the committee does not support the petitioners’ demand for an announcement to the government, but will closely follow the government’s analysis and work in the area.”
153 voted for the conclusion above.
150 voted to take things further, through an announcement from Parliament to the Government, that Sweden should investigate the possibility of taking international initiative to make ecocide a crime prosecutable by the International Criminal Court.
46 were absent.
“When listening to the debate in the parliament, it becomes evident that a clear majority is actually positive towards some form of international law against ecocide, or at least towards further investigating the issue. This is fundamentally positive, but I would wish that for once we could be clear and speak with a strong, united Swedish voice. We need to take a stand as a country and push for the implementation of an ecocide law,” says Johanna Lundgren Gestlöf, sustainability manager of occupational pension giant SPP.
Photo: Dan Coleman.
