'Historic': New definition of 'ecocide' puts it at par with war crime

A team of international lawyers has unveiled a new legal definition of "ecocide" that will, if adopted, make environmental destruction equivalent to war crimes.

Ecocide is now defined as "unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts".

This move has been appreciated by climate change activists all over the world as this gives authorities a chance to prosecute corporate and world leaders for any kind of attack on nature.

The authors have urged the members of the International Criminal Court(ICC) to support the new definition and help prosecute the criminals of climate change as "it is a question of survival for our planet,"said Dior Fall Sow, a UN jurist and former prosecutor who co-chaired the panel.

Corporate leaders and world leaders will be charged for ecocide for acts that involve "reckless disregard" regarding "serious adverse changes, disruption or harm to any element of the environment".

It also states that the damage caused can "extend beyond a limited geographic area, cross state boundaries, or [be] suffered by an entire ecosystem or species or a large number of human beings."

In addition to this, the new draft also states that the criminals can be prosecuted if the crime has been committed anywhere — from the Earth’s biosphere to outer space