Ecocide movement: Several countries move to criminalise actions that damage environment

More and more nations in the world are acting to make ecocide a crime. Ecocide generally refers to those actions of humans that cause mass destruction to the environment.

Now, Mexico has become the latest country where leaders are mulling to introduce laws on ecocide so that people causing damage to the environment can be booked and their victims can get fast justice.

A bill regarding the same has been tabled in the parliament by a Mexican congresswoman named Karina Marlen Barrón Perales. It must be noted that causing damage to the environment is already a crime in most countries. However, recognition of ecocide elevates the most egregious cases to a crime.

What’s the new Mexican bill?

The Mexican bill looks to criminalise “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”.

Once it is passed, the act of ecocide will attract jail time for up to 15 years and a fine as high as $75 per day. In Mexico, the push to criminalise ecocide comes as the country's government faces backlash over its extensive Maya train project, which poses a threat to Indigenous communities and carries the potential for severe environmental harm.

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Congresswoman Barrón Perales, representing the opposition PRI party, urged her fellow legislators not to overlook Mexico's environmental degradation and to pass the new bill.

States where ecocide is already recognised?

Only a few states in the world have already criminalised ecocide, including Russia, Ukraine and Vietnam. In fact, Ukraine is already pursuing a legal case of ecocide against Russia for allegedly breaching the Nova Kakhovka dam.

In Europe, France became the first country to criminalise ecocide in 2021. Although experts fret the language of the law is not as strong as sought by environmentalists.

Politicians in countries like Belgium, the Netherlands and Scotland are also contemplating legislation to deter environmental damage in their countries.

Can movement against ecocide save Brazil’s Amazon?

In Brazil, a nation where the deforestation in Amazon rainforest is repeatedly decried as a crime, the political party PSOL submitted an ecocide bill to Congress in June.

Rodrigo Lledó, the director of Stop Ecocide Americas, mentioned that Brazil's proposal marked the first of its kind in Latin America to officially reach a national legislative chamber. Other countries in the region, including Argentina and Chile, have also shown growing interest.

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