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Ecocide is the extensive damage to, destruction of or loss of ecosystem(s) of a given territory, whether by human agency or by other causes, to such an extent that peaceful enjoyment by the inhabitants of that territory has been severely diminished. (Ecocide, the 5th international Crime Against Peace; proposed amendment to the Rome Statute)<ref>{{cite web
|url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome_Statute_of_the_International_Criminal_Court/
|title=Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
}}</ref>


The neologism '''ecocide''' can be used to refer to any large-scale destruction of the [[environment (biophysical)|natural environment]] or [[over-consumption]] of critical [[non-renewable resource]]s.<ref>Random House (2006) ''Unabridged Dictionary''</ref> An early reference in 1969 described it as "Ecocide - the murder of the environment - is everybody's business."<ref>Encyclopedia Science Supplement 1969</ref> The term was also used in relation to environmental damage due to war such as the use of [[defoliant]]s in the [[Vietnam War]],<ref>Modern warfare equals environmental damage. USA Today Magazine, January 2008, Vol. 136 Issue 2752, p6-6,</ref> <!-- there is a lot of material that can be used for info references here but I cannot access it. --> and the use of [[glyphosate]] in the Colombian civil war.
The neologism '''ecocide''' can be used to refer to any large-scale destruction of the [[environment (biophysical)|natural environment]] or [[over-consumption]] of critical [[non-renewable resource]]s.<ref>Random House (2006) ''Unabridged Dictionary''</ref> An early reference in 1969 described it as "Ecocide - the murder of the environment - is everybody's business."<ref>Encyclopedia Science Supplement 1969</ref> The term was also used in relation to environmental damage due to war such as the use of [[defoliant]]s in the [[Vietnam War]],<ref>Modern warfare equals environmental damage. USA Today Magazine, January 2008, Vol. 136 Issue 2752, p6-6,</ref> <!-- there is a lot of material that can be used for info references here but I cannot access it. --> and the use of [[glyphosate]] in the Colombian civil war.


Revision as of 22:58, 11 March 2012

Ecocide is the extensive damage to, destruction of or loss of ecosystem(s) of a given territory, whether by human agency or by other causes, to such an extent that peaceful enjoyment by the inhabitants of that territory has been severely diminished. (Ecocide, the 5th international Crime Against Peace; proposed amendment to the Rome Statute)[1]


The neologism ecocide can be used to refer to any large-scale destruction of the natural environment or over-consumption of critical non-renewable resources.[2] An early reference in 1969 described it as "Ecocide - the murder of the environment - is everybody's business."[3] The term was also used in relation to environmental damage due to war such as the use of defoliants in the Vietnam War,[4] and the use of glyphosate in the Colombian civil war.

Ecocide is also a term for a substance that kills enough species in an ecosystem to disrupt its structure and function.[5] Another example would be a high concentration of pesticide due to a spillage.

It has also been defined as the extensive destruction, damage to or loss of ecosystem(s) of a given territory, whether by human agency or by other causes, to such an extent that peaceful enjoyment by the inhabitants of that territory has been severely diminished.[6][7]

A weaker definition of ecocide is that in which an organism destroys ecosystems other than its own. (e.g. cancer). For example, it could be said that during the Precambrian era, blue-green algae committed ecocide upon the prevailing reducing-chemistry-based ecology, by releasing oxygen into the environment. Organisms to which oxygen was a poison died off, while the algae and other organisms adapted to and created a new oxidation-chemistry-based ecology.[citation needed]

According to this interpretation and because humankind well-being is directly related to numerous environmental factors such as rainforest, climate warming, chemistry of the air and water our negative impact on these factor can't be viewed as a part of the weaker definition, but really for what it is: a threatening unbalance in the environment and a symptom of fundamental errors in managing how many we are and how much we pollute per capita.

U.S. environmental theorist and activist Patrick Hossay[8] argues that the human species is committing ecocide, via industrial civilization's effects on the global environment. Much of the modern environmental movement stems from this belief as a precept.

At the heart of the ecocide issue are practical and moral questions: is human activity destroying the ecological support system necessary for our own survival? Is global ecocide actually happening?[citation needed][clarification needed]

In 1996, Canadian/Australian lawyer Mark Gray proposed an international crime of ecocide, based on established international environmental and human rights law. He demonstrated that states, and arguably individuals and organisations, causing or permitting harm to the natural environment on a massive scale breach a duty of care owed to humanity in general. He proposed that such breaches, where deliberate, reckless or negligent, be identified as ecocide where they entail serious, and extensive or lasting, ecological damage; international consequences; and waste.[9]

In April 2010 UK Lawyer Polly Higgins proposed to the United Nations that ecocide be recognised as an international Crime Against Peace alongside Genocide, Crimes of Humanity, War Crimes and Crimes of Aggression, triable at the International Criminal Court.

Institutionalism, Global Commons and Global Governance

File:Eradicating-Ecocide.jpg
Polly Higgins Eradicating Ecocide won The People’s Book Prize 2011
“Corporations are the ones gambling our planet away and our governments are running the casino”
Polly Higgins, Eradicating Ecocide (Shepheard-Walwyn 2010 pp 165)

To establish ecocide the 5th crime of peace, public engagement via new institutionalism is one way to initiate global governance to protect the global commons for future sustainability. First and foremost establishing ecocide as a crime is a way to establish peace between all nations to avoid wars based on resource depletion and utilize established theories and cornerstone laws to protect Earth.

The Athabasca tar sands (The Dead Duck Trial) was successfully prosecuted in The mock trial of the Athabasca Tar Sands 30 September 2011, in the UK Supreme Court and if ecocide was a crime then real punishment could bring those responsible imprisonment and make other corporations more vigilant in environmental protection. Corporations have claimed they are immune from prosecution under the Human Rights Act Corporate Personhood. Article 5 (d) of the Crime of Genocide uses the language “superior responsibility”, when applying the concept of responsibility to environmental degradation, corporations should be held responsible.

  • Tar-sands-collage
    Tar-sands-collage

Ecocide set within international law has now been defined by Polly Higgins in her award winning book Eradicating Ecocide (Shepheard-Walwyn 2010) and the rules by which corporate activities should be carried out to avoid ecocide have been etched from statutes laid down as pillars of international law and agreements. An institution that has already passed such laws that could apply to ecocide is the United Nations.

Institutionalism

The United Nations operates through sets of codified rules ([10] Evans 2012, p47) and operating as an institution allows governments to work with merged strategies levied as international agreements and multilateral environmental agreement (MEA) to address climate change and environmental damage. The 1945 UN Charter promotes governance and a way to a democratic, decentralized system in which others are able to participate (Higgins, 2010).

Elinor Ostrom developed the Institutional Analysis and Design framework (Ostrom et al. 1994) where she discusses in their book Rules, Games and Common Pool Resources, closed rules which are set in stone (Evans, 2012, p53). Two such laws with which ecocide, a crime of consequence could be made, is the crime of genocide and the UN Charter.

Global commons

Proposals to protect the commons


For future sustainability and to avoid wars, desperate times call for desperate measures. Two such measures proposed by Higgins are to utilise Chapters XI, XII, XIII of the.[11]

Many corporations are exploiting NSGTs and under Chapter XI indigenous people can apply for protection of their territory and existing states have a fiduciary duty. Chapters XI, XII, XIII are about self-governance and the mechanisms to facilitate it. Under Chapter XII trusteeship would be a tool for all peoples well-being and protect territories at risk of ecocide.

Global governance

“If you come only to help me, you can go back home. But if you consider my struggle as part of your struggle for survival, then maybe we can work together.”
— An Aboriginal Woman

Voluntary governance, market trading and offset mechanisms have all failed to halt environmental destruction in the name of free market globalization. To abate this the UNEP and OHCHR have passed resolutions on the interrelationships between human rights and environmental protection UNEP and OHCHR.

Because collective action is hard to attain for several reasons, scientific uncertainty, elusive subjective concerns, competitive states breeding a lack of international cooperation and difficult coordinated action planning of environmental issues, (Evans, 2012 p7) guardianship is possibly an answer posed by Christopher D. Stone in his essay Should Trees Have Standing?[12] (Stone, Chap 3).

This is echoed by Higgins’s proposal to reinstate Article 75 Charter of UN International Trusteeship System.

Another solution could be to form a unified group of environmental ‘guardistees’ [13] to use The Human Rights Act in the same way corporations have to protect Earth as a nonperson but, a living entity nonetheless, on which we all depend for our lives.

See also

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References

  1. ^ "Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court".
  2. ^ Random House (2006) Unabridged Dictionary
  3. ^ Encyclopedia Science Supplement 1969
  4. ^ Modern warfare equals environmental damage. USA Today Magazine, January 2008, Vol. 136 Issue 2752, p6-6,
  5. ^ Cunningham, W (1998). Environmental encyclopedia. Detroit: Gale. ISBN 0-8013-9314-X. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: checksum (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "The Solution: Proposal for Ecocide to be the 5th International Crime Against Peace". Eradicating Ecocide. 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  7. ^ Tregaskis, Shona (4 May 2010). "In pictures: Ten worst 'ecocides'". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  8. ^ in Unsustainable A Primer for Global Environmental and Social Justice, Zed Books: London, 2006,see 'Ecocide' and 'Toxic Planet', pp. 22-34.
  9. ^ Gray, Mark Allan, ‘The international crime of ecocide’ (1996) 26 California Western International Law Journal 215; and (2003) International Crimes, The Library of Essays in International Law, ed. N Passas, Ashgate Publishing, Aldershot UK
  10. ^ Evans, J.P. (2012). Environmental Governance. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-58981-9.
  11. ^ Articles 73-91 CHAPTER XI: DECLARATION REGARDING NON-SELF-GOVERNING TERRITORIES, CHAPTER XII: INTERNATIONAL TRUSTEESHIP SYSTEM, and to re-open CHAPTER XIII: THE TRUSTEESHIP COUNCIL from The Charter of the United Nations and The Statute of the International Court of Justice is.
  12. ^ See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_movement and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_movement_in_the_United_States
  13. ^ guardistee ~ a trustee to guard the well-being of Earth (portmanteau word created by Candace James November 2011 for MSc Environmental Governance, Theories of Environmental Governance, University of Manchester)

Further reading

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