Lynn Berat, Defending the Right to a Healthy Environment: Toward a Crime of Geocide in International Law, 11 B.U. INT’L L. J. 327 (1993)

This article advocates for the creation of a crime of geocide, defined as “the intentional destruction, in whole or in part, of any of portion of the global ecosystem, via killing members of a species; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the species; inflicting on the species conditions of life that bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; and imposing measures that prevent births within the group or lead to birth defects.” Berat calls on states to draft a geocide convention to clarify the scope and contents of the crime, taking into account questions of liability and potential jurisdictional issues. The ultimate goals of this advocacy are the adoption of a geocide convention and the creation of an international environmental tribunal, as Berat warns, “[t]o do less will jeopardize the future of life on earth.”

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