{"id":1028,"date":"2021-07-02T17:00:24","date_gmt":"2021-07-02T17:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/?p=1028"},"modified":"2021-07-28T17:17:55","modified_gmt":"2021-07-28T17:17:55","slug":"ecocide-defined-in-new-effort-to-make-it-fifth-international-crime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/2021\/07\/02\/ecocide-defined-in-new-effort-to-make-it-fifth-international-crime\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Ecocide\u2019 Defined in New Effort to make it Fifth International Crime"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Banner Image: A pile of logs left to rot as part of infamous private use permit scandal of 2013 that rocked the Liberian forestry sector. The DayLight\/James Harding Giahyue<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

By Ojuku S. Kangar<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MONROVIA \u2013 A panel of 12 legal experts from around the world have arrived at a definition of \u201cecocide,\u201d a step closer in the quest of campaigners and environmentalists to make it the fifth international crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The panel, convened by the Stop Ecocide Foundation of the Netherlands,  defined ecocide as an \u201cunlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It comes as the world tackles climate change, with global calls for action against actions detrimental to the world and its people, including deforestation in the Amazon and global plastic pollution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The definition of the term rings a bell in Liberia, a country with a long history of land-grab<\/a>, concession-related human rights abuses<\/a> and a deadly civil war fueled by lust<\/a> for forest resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advocate for ecocide placed it alongside war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and crime of aggression if member-states of the International Criminal Court adopt it. It will require one of the court\u2019s 123 member-states, including Liberia, to formally request consideration of a fifth crime within the court\u2019s jurisdiction. That process could take years to be finalized. It would also be the first new international crime since the 1940s when Nazi leaders were prosecuted at the Nuremberg trials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is an historic moment.  This expert panel came together in direct response to a growing political appetite for real answers to the climate and ecological crisis,\u201d said Jojo Mehta, chair of the Stop Ecocide Foundation. \u201cThe moment is right – the world is waking up to the danger we are facing if we continue along our current trajectory.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI welcome this definition, as it makes the term ecocide more concrete and clear, it also makes it a lot easier for me as a politician and a lawmaker to find support for criminalization of it,\u201d said Rebecka Le Moine, member of Swedish Parliament, who initially approached the Stop Ecocide Foundation with a request for a definition of ecocide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The keywords simplified by the 12 panels from its definition include, \u201cwanton,\u201d which they defined as \u201creckless disregard for damage, which would be clearly excessive in relation to the social and economic benefits, anticipated.\u201d \u201cSevere\u201d means damage, which involves very serious adverse changes, disruption or harm to any element of the environment, including grave impacts on human life or natural, cultural or economic resources.\u201d  \u201cWidespread\u201d means damage, which extends beyond a limited geographic area, crosses state boundaries; or is suffered by an entire ecosystem or species or a large member of human beings.\u201d \u201cLong-term\u201d means damage, which is irreversible or which cannot be redressed through natural recovery within a reasonable period of time, and Environment means the earth, its biosphere, cryosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere, as well as outer space.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The panel included Senegalese lawyer Dior Fall Sow (co-chair); human rights attorney and author Philippe Sands (co-chair); Kate Mackintosh, executive director of the Promise Institute for Human Rights, UCLA School of Law; and Richard J, Rogers, a partner at Global Diligence and executive director of Climate Counsel (U.K.). Members included Alex Whiting, a former International Criminal Court prosecutions coordinator and professor at Harvard Law School, and Val\u00e9rie Cabanes, an International jurist and human rights expert from France.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Banner Image: A pile of logs left to rot as part of infamous private use permit scandal of 2013 that rocked the Liberian forestry sector. The DayLight\/James Harding Giahyue By Ojuku S. Kangar MONROVIA \u2013 A panel of 12 legal experts from around the world have arrived at a definition of \u201cecocide,\u201d a step closer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1029,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\n","aioseo_head_json":{"title":"\u2018Ecocide\u2019 Defined in New Effort to make it Fifth International Crime - The DayLight","description":"Banner Image: A pile of logs left to rot as part of infamous private use permit scandal of 2013 that rocked the Liberian forestry sector. The DayLight\/James Harding Giahyue By Ojuku S. Kangar MONROVIA \u2013 A panel of 12 legal experts from around the world have arrived at a definition of \u201cecocide,\u201d a step closer","canonical_url":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/2021\/07\/02\/ecocide-defined-in-new-effort-to-make-it-fifth-international-crime\/","robots":"noindex, nofollow, max-image-preview:large","keywords":"","webmasterTools":{"msvalidate.01":"CA6BD2F84653EA44942A55ABC0B35372","miscellaneous":""},"schema":null,"og:locale":"en_US","og:site_name":"The DayLight - The DayLight is a nonprofit, environmental news website. Our evidence-based, independent and quality news contents tell you all the happenings across nature\u2019s frontiers and the extractive sector in Liberia. From forestry and fisheries to wildlife conservation and climate change, from renewable energy and land rights to oil\/gas and oil palm, we bring you news on everything about the environment you need to know. The DayLight is published by The DayLight Incorporated in Vahnwin Community, Congo Town.","og:type":"article","og:title":"\u2018Ecocide\u2019 Defined in New Effort to make it Fifth International Crime - The DayLight","og:description":"Banner Image: A pile of logs left to rot as part of infamous private use permit scandal of 2013 that rocked the Liberian forestry sector. The DayLight\/James Harding Giahyue By Ojuku S. Kangar MONROVIA \u2013 A panel of 12 legal experts from around the world have arrived at a definition of \u201cecocide,\u201d a step closer","og:url":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/2021\/07\/02\/ecocide-defined-in-new-effort-to-make-it-fifth-international-crime\/","og:image":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Eco.jpg","og:image:secure_url":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Eco.jpg","og:image:width":1431,"og:image:height":954,"article:published_time":"2021-07-02T17:00:24+00:00","article:modified_time":"2021-07-28T17:17:55+00:00","article:publisher":"https:\/\/web.facebook.com\/news.thedaylight","twitter:card":"summary","twitter:title":"\u2018Ecocide\u2019 Defined in New Effort to make it Fifth International Crime - The DayLight","twitter:description":"Banner Image: A pile of logs left to rot as part of infamous private use permit scandal of 2013 that rocked the Liberian forestry sector. The DayLight\/James Harding Giahyue By Ojuku S. Kangar MONROVIA \u2013 A panel of 12 legal experts from around the world have arrived at a definition of \u201cecocide,\u201d a step closer","twitter:image":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/cropped-site-identity.png"},"aioseo_meta_data":{"post_id":"1028","title":null,"description":null,"keywords":null,"keyphrases":null,"primary_term":null,"canonical_url":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"og_object_type":"default","og_image_type":"default","og_image_url":null,"og_image_width":null,"og_image_height":null,"og_image_custom_url":null,"og_image_custom_fields":null,"og_video":null,"og_custom_url":null,"og_article_section":null,"og_article_tags":null,"twitter_use_og":false,"twitter_card":"default","twitter_image_type":"default","twitter_image_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_fields":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"schema":{"blockGraphs":[],"customGraphs":[],"default":{"data":{"Article":[],"Course":[],"Dataset":[],"FAQPage":[],"Movie":[],"Person":[],"Product":[],"ProductReview":[],"Car":[],"Recipe":[],"Service":[],"SoftwareApplication":[],"WebPage":[]},"graphName":"BlogPosting","isEnabled":true},"graphs":[]},"schema_type":"default","schema_type_options":null,"pillar_content":false,"robots_default":true,"robots_noindex":false,"robots_noarchive":false,"robots_nosnippet":false,"robots_nofollow":false,"robots_noimageindex":false,"robots_noodp":false,"robots_notranslate":false,"robots_max_snippet":null,"robots_max_videopreview":null,"robots_max_imagepreview":"large","priority":null,"frequency":null,"local_seo":null,"seo_analyzer_scan_date":"2025-08-15 02:20:20","breadcrumb_settings":null,"limit_modified_date":false,"reviewed_by":null,"ai":null,"created":"2023-09-23 11:06:11","updated":"2025-10-21 23:42:46"},"aioseo_breadcrumb":"

\n\t\t\tHome<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span>\u00bb<\/span>\n\t\t\tEnvironment<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span>\u00bb<\/span>\n\t\t\t\u2018Ecocide\u2019 Defined in New Effort to make it Fifth International Crime\n\t\t<\/span><\/div>","aioseo_breadcrumb_json":[{"label":"Home","link":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68"},{"label":"Environment","link":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/category\/environment\/"},{"label":"\u2018Ecocide\u2019 Defined in New Effort to make it Fifth International Crime","link":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/2021\/07\/02\/ecocide-defined-in-new-effort-to-make-it-fifth-international-crime\/"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1028"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1028\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1194,"href":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1028\/revisions\/1194"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}