ABOUT

(/ABOUT-SUMMARY)
WHO WE ARE (/WHO-WE-ARE-)
WHAT IS ECOCIDE? (/WHAT-IS-ECOCIDE)
MAKING ECOCIDE A CRIME (/MAKING-ECOCIDE-A-CRI
ME) WHAT WE DO (/WHAT-WE-DO)
EXPERT DRAFTING PANEL (/EXPERT-DRAFTING-PA
NEL) LEADING STATES (/LEADING-STATES)
SUPPORTERS & PARTNERS (/SUPPORTERS) EAR
TH PROTECTORS LIST & MAP (/TRUSTEE-LIST
) POLLY HIGGINS (/POLLY-HIGGINS)
FAQ (/FAQ-SUMMAR
Y) TAKE ACTION
(/TAKE-ACTION-SUM
MARY)
SIGN INTERNATIONA
L PETITION (/BECOM
E)
BECOME AN EARTH PROTECTOR
(/BECOME-AN-EARTH-PROTECTOR-) DONATE (/DONATE)
MAILING LIST (/MAILING-LIST)
LETTER TO ELECTED REPRESENTATIVE (/LETTER-TO-ELECTED-REPRESENTATIV
E) #FACETHECLIMATEEMERGENCY LETTER
(/FACE-THE-CLIMATE-EMERGENCY-LETTER) LAWYERS AGAINST ECOCIDE (/LAWY
ERS-AGAINST-ECOCIDE)
PRINT RESOURCES
(/PRINT-GRAPHICS) SHOP (/SHOP)
GET INVOLVED
(/GET-INVOLVED-SUMMARY)
SPREAD THE WORD (/SPREAD-THE-
WORD)
ENDORSE THE CAMPAIGN (/ENDORSE-THE-CAMPAIGN)
CONSCIENTIOUS PROTECTORS
(/CONSCIENTIOUS-PROTECTORS) EP COMMUNITIES
(/EP-COMMUNITIES)
EVENTS (/CALENDA
R) MEDIA
(/MEDIA-SUMMARY) NEWSL
ETTER (/NEWSLETTER)
BREAKING NEWS / PRESS (/PRESS-RELEA
SES) NEWS ARTICLES (/READ)
PODCASTS (/PODCAST
S) VIDEOS (/FILMS)
BLOG (/BLOG)
SOCIAL MEDIA (/SOCIAL-MED
IA) LANGUAGES
(/LANGUAGES-SUMMARY)
NEDERLANDS (HTTPS://WWW
.STOPECOCIDE.NL/)
ESPAÑOL (HTTPS://WWW.PROTECTORESDELATIERRA.O
RG/) FRANÇAIS (HTTPS://WWW.STOP-ECOCIDE.FR/)
 SIGN NOW ( /BECOME)

WHAT IS
ECOCIDE?

ECOCIDE is mass damage and destruction of ecosystems –

harm to nature which is widespread, severe or
systematic.
ECOCIDE, committed repeatedly over decades, has created the climate and
ecological emergency that we now face.

Below are some examples of what a criminal law of ECOCIDE could address:
OCEAN
DAMAGE
Industrial fishing

Practices such as deep sea bottom

trawling (https://www.nationalgeogra
phic.com/
news/2014/5/140519-bottom-
trawling-seafloor-oceans-damage- sci
ence/), which destroy entire
ecosystems by dredging the ocean fl
oor; overkshing (https://www.national
geographic.com/
news/2014/5/140519-bottom-
trawling-seafloor-oceans-damage- sci
ence/) with associated multiple
species loss.

Oil spills

M any examples, the worst being Dee

pwater Horizon (https://www.britannic
a.com/event/De epwater-Horizon-oil-s
pill) 2010 which formed a slick
extending over more than 57,500
square miles (149,000 square km),
with an estimated 1,100 miles (1,770
km) of shoreline polluted.

Plastic pollution

Plastic production, transport and

waste industries play a large part in
this all- pervasive “plastic soup
(https://www.plasticsoupfoundation.or
g/en/plastic-problem/).”
 Deep sea mining

This young extractive industry (https://

www.sprep.org/sites/default/kl
es/documents/publications/Nodule-
Mining-in-the-Pacikc-Ocean.pdf) is
already provoking calls for a
moratorium due to impacts of physical
disruption and pollution in the Pacikc.

DEFORESTATION:
The biggest combined threat to biodiversity and climate on the planet is deforestation
(https://e360.yale.edu/features/how-deforestation-affecting-global-water-cycles-
climate-change), especially of tropical rainforests which harbour the richest ecosystem
s and actively moderate the global climate
Industrial livestock farming

Cattle ranching
(https://globalforestatlas.yale.edu/amaz
on/land-use/cattle-ranching) for beef
production is the single biggest reason
for A mazon deforestation….

…..along with growing soy

(https://globalforestatlas.yale.edu/amaz
on/land-use/soy) for animal feed.

M ineral extraction

Copper, iron ore and gold mining

(https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/
gold-mining-threatens-indigenous-
forests-in-the-brazilian-amazon/)….
….as well as oil drilling (https://wwf.pa
nda.org/knowledge_hub
/where_we_work/amazon/amazon_thre

ats/other_threats/oil_and_gas_extractio
n_amazon/ ) all contribute to
deforestation as well as creating
additional harm via contamination of
land and river systems.

Palm oil & wood production

These are key causes of deforestation

(https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/issue
s/indonesian-forests-palm-oil/) in
Indonesia and M alaysia.
 LAND & WATER
CONTAMINATIO
N
Oil spills

The N iger D elta has suffered from

continuous oil spills over many
decades of extraction
(https://postconflict.unep.ch/publicatio

ns/Nigeria/press_release_ogoniland_en.
pdf)and is still one of the most
polluted regions on Earth.
Mining

From goldmining
(https://www.smithsonianmag.com/scie
nce-nature/environmental-disaster-
gold-industry-180949762/)…

..to mountaintop removal

(https://appvoices.org/end-
mountaintop-removal/ecology/),
mining of all kinds has a record of
serious land and water
contamination.

Tar sands

The Athabasca tar sands (https://ww

w.nationalgeographic.com/
environment/2019/04/alberta-
canadas-tar-sands-is-growing-but- ind
igenous-people-kght-back/) in
Alberta, C anada ] are the biggest of
these operations, devastating wildlife,
indigenous lands and creating scars
visible from space.
Fracking

The toxic effects of unconventional oil

and gas extraction are extensively
documented
(http://concernedhealthny.org/compen
dium/) – and cumulative.

Textile chemicals

The textile industry (https://cen.acs.or

g/articles/93/i41/Cut ting-Textile-Pollut
ion.html) has huge polluting impact
via wastewater eg from dyeing and
tanning
Agricultural pollution

Soils (https://foodprint.org/issues/how
- industrial-agriculture-affects-our-
soil/),

river systems (http://www.fao.org/3/a

- i7754e.pdf),
 and insect populations (https://www.t
heguardian.com/environ
ment/2017/oct/18/warning-of-
ecological-armageddon-after-
dramatic-plunge-in-insect-numbers)are
all seriously affected by industrial
agricultural chemicals and monocrop
practices.

AIR
POLLUTION
 Chemical disasters & weapons

Many examples, of which the Bhopal g

as tragedy (https://www.bhopal.org/)i
s considered the worst

(https://www.thisdayinhistorypodcast.com/december-3-bhopal-
disaster/)

…Use of chemical weapon Agent

Orange
(https://ejatlas.org/conflict/exposure-
to-agent-orange) was the krst contex
t in which the word “ecocide” was
recorded.

Radioactive contamination

Nuclear accidents such as Chernobyl

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernob

yl_disaster) and Fukushima

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushi
ma_Daiichi_nuclear_disaster)
….contamination from nuclear testing (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_ t
esting_at_Bikini_Atoll#Local_populatio
ns_affected)

….as well as actual use of nuclear

weapons
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_b
ombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki)
are obvious examples

…but the oil industry (https://www.des

mog.co.uk/2020/04/2
9/syrian-job-oil-industry-radioactive- s
ecret)recently discovered to be
implicated too.

Industrial emissions

O ur climatic system – the umbrella

ecosystem for all others – can only re
main stable below certain planetary
boundaries
(https://www.stockholmresilience.org/r
esearch/planetary-boundaries.html),
so the fossil fuel
(https://www.newsweek.com/ohio-gas-
well-methane-leak-worst-ever-space-
observations-1477992)industries…
 ….agriculture (https://agupubs.online
library.wiley.co
m/doi/full/10.1002/2016GL068354)
industries

and cement industries (https://www.bl

oomberg.com/news/art
icles/2019-06-23/green-cement-
struggles-to-expand-market-as- polluti
on-focus-grows) are all implicated at
production stage.

Climate and ecological emergency is the result of many years of these harmful
industrial activities. Most of the risks have been known for decades by the companies
choosing to continue these practices. The responsibility lies with decisions made at
the top of industry, finance and government.

As citizens we can and must take responsibility for what we eat and buy, but ordinary
citizens do not make those high level investment and policy decisions. Ordinary
citizens cannot therefore be blamed for ecocide.

But we can help to stop it. Next up - how to make it a CRIME

(/making-ecocide-a-crime)…

P R I VAC Y P O L I C Y ( / P R I VAC Y- P O
L I C Y ) C O N TAC T ( / C O N TAC T )
P R E S S ( M A I LTO : P R E S S @ S TO P E C O C I D E . E A R T H ? S U B J E C
T = P R E S S ) N E D E R L A N D S ( H T T P S : // W W W. S TO P E C O C I D
E.NL/)
E S PA Ñ O L ( H T T P S : // W W W. P R OT E C TO R E S D E L AT I E R R
A . O R G / ) F R A N Ç A I S ( H T T P S : // W W W. S TO P - E C O C I D
P O R T U G U Ê S ( H T T P S : // W W W. S TO P E C O C I D
I O. P T/ ) D E U T S C H ( H T T P S : // W W W. S TO P E C
OCIDE.DE/)
I TA L I A N O ( H T T P S : // W W W. S TO P E C O C I D I O
. I T/ )

I N T E R N AT I O N
30190 AL PETITION

(https://www.stopecocide.earth/become)

EARTH
19161 P R OT E C TO R
S

(https://www.stopecocide.earth/trustee-list)

Search

(http (http (http (http (http

epa ecoc view