In 1972, Sweden’s Prime Minister Olof Palme took the stage at the first UN environmental conference to argue for international attention around ecocide. What has happened since then? How do we move toward the criminalization of the destruction of nature?
On May 31 we invited a global audience to a unique evening at the STHLM+50 Climate Hub to answer some of these questions.
The musicians of the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki are using music to highlight the ecocide issue. On May 31st, they performed in a world premiere on the stage of the STHLM+50 Climate Hub, a powerful piece introduced by the words of Olof Palme in 1972.
If the term ecocide became quite popular right after the Stockholm Conference, it disappeared for decades from the international law agenda. This was until 2010, when the late Polly Higgins, barrister and environmental law activist, presented a definition of ecocide to the UN Law Commission. She devoted her last years on Earth to making ecocide law a reality, and her legacy lives through our organization and thousands of activists around the world.
“Over 20 member states of the ICC have discussions on ecocide at parliamentary & government levels, our job now is to raise awareness of the possibility of criminalizing ecocide at the highest level” Jojo Mehta, Executive Director, Stop Ecocide Intnl
Last year was important, as an international group of 12 legal experts proposed a definition of a new international crime of ecocide and presented it to the Assembly of the State Parties at the International Criminal Court. This led to ecocide being the most discussed issue in international law. During her keynote speech, Jojo Mehta, Executive Director of Stop Ecocide International, explained that a “public survey showed that over 50% of the people hearing about ecocide law for the first time, supported it immediately.” If ecocide is resonating at every level of society, why isn’t it yet criminalized?
As he joined us remotely that evening, Steven Donziger underlined the power of the fossil fuel companies in the fight against the recognition of ecocide. The human rights attorney has witnessed decades of premeditated environmental destruction in the Amazon and stressed the importance of having a fifth crime of ecocide recognized by the International Criminal Court.
"The people making the decisions in these large oil companies they never get punished, to criminalize this behaviour would completely change the equation." Steven Donziger, Human Rights Attorney
While some companies are enjoying the impunity, others are pushing for a change. They have united under the Ecocide Law Alliance, an alliance of business leaders for ecocide law. Nina Macpherson, Chair, Ecocide Law Alliance, Andreas Follér, Head of Sustainability, Scania, and Ralph Chami, Assistant Director, IMF highlighted how ecocide law would be a support for business in the transition to a sustainable society. In another panel discussion youth leader Hanna Soldal, Church of Sweden Youth, Andrés Ingi Jónsson, Member of the Icelandic parliament and Richard Brisius, Chairman of The Ocean Race discussed their engagement and ways forward.
Birgitta Dahl, former Minister for the Environment of Sweden
To summarize this evening, we could quote Birgitta Dahl: “a lot has happened since 1972 but also not enough”. But for the former Minister for the Environment of Sweden, “we should never give up hope for the future, you should never jump into this swamp of disappointment instead we should work for a better future for our children and their children” and we couldn’t agree more. Watch Ecocide - The Stockholm legacy at the STHLM+50 Climate Hub:
https://youtu.be/HBApGnFtS3o
ABOUT STHLM+50 CLIMATE HUB
50 years after the very first UN Environment Conference, placing nature and poverty at the forefront of the international agenda, Stockholm welcomed the world again in June 2022. Together with partners, We Don'tHave Time and UNDP hosted a public arena for the entire week of Stockholm+50, leading up to World Environment Day 2022.
The five-day event was broadcast live from SPACE Arena in central Stockholm. On Twitter alone, the broadcasts reached more than 31 million viewers from 160 countries.
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86 w
Such a great and powerful evening!
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90 w
This was one of my favs during STHLM+50
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89 w
Same to me! Message was clear and great! Their presentation,music,etc was awesome!
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90 w
The criminalization of ecocide is such an important topic! Our future really depends on it