Ecocide

Ecocide

News: The Tribunal for the Rights of Nature called Mexico’s Maya train project responsible for causing “crimes of ecocide and ethnocide”.

Background:
• There have been global calls to make Ecocide a crime.

What is Ecocide?
• Ecocide is the destruction of the natural environment by deliberate or negligent human action. It is an idea that seems both highly radical and reasonable. The theory is that no one should go unpunished for destroying the natural world.

What is the Global Standing on Ecocide laws?
• Ecocide is a crime in 11 countries, with 27 other nations deliberating laws around criminalizing environmental damage.
• The European Parliament voted unanimously this year to enshrine ecocide in law.
• Mexico recently proposed a Bill to criminalize any “unlawful or wanton act committed with the knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment”.

What has been India’s stance on Ecocide law?
• In Chandra CFS and Terminal Operators Pvt. Ltd. v. The Commissioner of Customs and Ors - The Madras High Court noted, “the prohibitory activities of ecocide have been continuing unbridledly by certain sections of people by removing the valuable and precious timbers.”
• T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad vs Union Of India & Ors case - Supreme Court called attention to an “anthropogenic bias” and argued that “environmental justice could be achieved only if we drift away from the principle of anthropocentric to ecocentric.”

What are the importance of Ecocide laws?
• Ecocide laws are crucial for protecting the environment and holding perpetrators accountable. They provide a crucial legal instrument to protect the environment and can hold individuals in corporate leadership accountable and promote ethical investment practices.
• These laws could offer justice to low- and middle-income countries disproportionately affected by climate change.
• Ecocide laws are a crucial aspect of the larger effort to shift public awareness, acknowledging our interdependence with the environment and the need to employ political, diplomatic, and legal tools for environmental protection.