Laurent Neyret, Cambridge Centre for Env’t, Energy & Nat. Resource Governance, Draft Convention against Ecocide, in From Ecocrimes to Ecocide. Protecting the Environment through Criminal Law 35, 37 (2017).
Article 1 – Scope of application
- The provisions of this Convention shall apply to the most serious crimes against the environment that, both in times of peace and in times of armed conflict, have an impact on the safety of the planet.
- The present Convention is without prejudice to the relevant rules of international humanitarian law prohibiting environmental damage in time of armed conflict.
Article 2 – Definition of ecocide
- For the purposes of this Convention, ecocide means the intentional acts committed in the context of a widespread [or] systematic action that have an adverse impact on the safety of the planet, such acts being defined as follows:
- The discharge, emission or introduction of a quantity of substances or ionizing radiation into air or atmosphere, soil, water or the aquatic environments;
- The collection, transport, recovery or disposal of waste, including the supervision of such operations and the after-care of disposal sites, and including action taken as a dealer or a broker in the framework of any activity related to the waste management;
- The operation of a plant in which dangerous activity is carried out or in which dangerous substances or preparations are stored or used;
- The production, processing, handling, use, holding, storage, transport, import, export or disposal of nuclear materials or other hazardous radioactive substances;
- The killing, destruction, possession or taking of specimens of wild fauna or flora species whether protected or note; [f)] other acts of a similar character committed intentionally that adversely affect the safety of the planet.
- The acts referred to in paragraph 1 adversely affecting [sic] the safety of the planet when they cause:
- A widespread, constant and serious degradation of the quality of air or the atmosphere, the quality of soil or the quality of water, the fauna and flora or their ecological functions; or
- Death, permanent disabilities or other incurable serious illnesses to a population or they strip permanently the latter of their lands, territories or resources;
The acts referred to in paragraph 1 must have been committed intentionally and with knowledge of the widespread [or] systematic nature of the actions in whose framework the aforementioned acts are being carried out. These acts shall also be deemed intentional where their perpetrator either knew or should have known that there existed a high probability that such acts may adversely affect the safety of the planet.