Open letter to the ICC State Parties

In view of the Nineteenth session of the Assembly of States Parties of the Statute of Rome, from 14 to 23 December 2020, the Members of the Ecocide Alliance wrote an open letter to all Foreign Affairs Ministers of the States Parties, asking them to work together to achieve urgently the formal recognition of the crime of ecocide.

Dear Honourable Ministers,

After months of discussions, you will shortly be voting for a new Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. This is a crucial opportunity to push for a reform of the Court, including to allow the international community to stand up against the crimes which endanger life on the planet. 

In 1998, the Statute of Rome introduced crucial international cooperation into the process of investigating the most important crimes committed on our planet. At the time, recognition of ecocide was discussed, but did not make the final cut : the Court has jurisdiction in cases of “widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment”, although only in times of war (Rome Statute, Art. 8). We now know that the most severe crimes against the environment do not only happen during war, and that the ecological crisis has now reached a critical stage which imposes us to entirely rethink our legal framework, our international cooperation and agreements.

The current prosecutor, Ms. Fatou Bensouda, has taken a first step. In 2016, she published a “Policy paper on case selection and prioritisation”, announcing that certain environmental crimes relating to the "illegal exploitation of natural resources", and "land grabbing or the destruction of the environment" would be taken into her office's scope of action. That was an important milestone but we need to go one step further: we need to formally recognize ecocide.

As members of the International parliamentary alliance for the recognition of ecocide, we call on you to appoint a prosecutor who will advocate for the investigation of the most severe environmental crimes, and the prosecution of those who commit them, even when they are committed during peace times. 

Yet, howewer courageous the ICC Prosecutor will be, she or he can do nothing more without the support of the States. It is therefore your responsibility to work together to achieve the formal recognition of ecocide within the Statute of Rome. Ecocide is now being discussed in more and more countries : in Belgium, Sweden, France, the Netherlands, and the Republics of Vanuatu and the Maldives officially requested an ecocide amendment to the Roma Statute last year. The whole international community must now engage with this discussion. 

Time is running out. We need you to act with urgency, we need you to be clear-headed, we need you to be bold.

We therefore ask that, by next year, the necessary amendments to the Statute of Rome will be considered and the Assembly given the opportunity to respond to the ecological challenge of our time by recognising ecocide.

We thank you in advance for your consideration.

Yours sincerely,

Rodrigo AGOSTINHO, deputy at the Federal Assembly (Câmara Federal) of Brazil

Samuel COGOLATI, Belgian Federal Deputy

Eufemia CULLAMAT, Member of the Philippine House of Representatives

Rebecka LE MOINE, Member of the Swedish Parliament

Caroline LUCAS, Member of the British Parliament

Senator Janet RICE, Australian Senator

Inés SABANÉS, Spanish Deputy

Lindsey SCHROMEN-WAWRIN, City Councilmember in Port Angeles, Washington State, United States

Marie TOUSSAINT, Members of the European Parliament

Senator Larissa WATERS, Australian Senator