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ARTICLE · 19 JUNE 2024

EU Parliament Votes To Criminalise Environment Crimes Comparable To "Ecocide"

Peters & Peters Solicitors LLP
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The European Parliament adopted a new Environmental Crime Directive on April 11, 2024, effective May 20, 2024, criminalizing severe environmental damage akin to ecocide. The directive includes updated criminal offenses, severe penalties, and mandatory training for law enforcement, positioning the EU as the first international body to criminalize ecocide.

European UnionEnvironment
Maria Cronin
Maria Cronin
Vlad Meerovich
Vlad Meerovich
Alice McDonald
Alice McDonald

At the end of February, the European Parliament voted through a new environmental crime directive which includes provisions criminalising the most serious cases of environmental damage that are "comparable to ecocide". The new Environmental Crime Directive was adopted on 11 April 2024 and entered into force on 20 May 2024.

The environmental campaign group Stop Ecocide International has been calling for ecocide to become an international crime since 2021, defining it 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".

First international organisation

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