What is Ecocide?

This is Ecocide massive environmental destruction that is harming people and our planet

Destruction, damage or loss of ecosystems is happening on a mass scale, every day

The destruction you see above is the devastating consequence of excavation for crude oil at the Canadian tar sands (read more below). But this is only one example of ecocide. Each day 150 living species become extinct, 1,000 acres of peat bogs are excavated and 150,000 acres of tropical rainforest are destroyed. Each day, 2 million tons of toxic waste is dumped in to our rivers and seas, 22 million tons of oil are extracted and 100 million tons of greenhouse gases are released. Our land is being destroyed, the water we drink is being poisoned and the air we breathe is polluted. This situation could get worse, as climate change is predicted to increase the spread of disease, conflict and extreme weather events. The cost of destruction to the planet by the top 3,000 corporations was estimated at $2.2 trillion in 2008 This figure is growing. We are failing to look to the consequences of our actions: it has become the norm to take and destroy our land. CEOs of these companies are not held responsible for damage they are causing.

How do we restore the environment and prevent future damage?

A law of Ecocide would make our Heads of state legally responsible for the Earth. People and planet would become the number one priority.

Ecocide, the 5th international Crime Against Peace

proposed amendment to the Rome Statute

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.

Two Ecocides: human made ecocide and naturally occurring ecocide.

1. Human made ecocide: loss of the Amazon, mining, the Athabasca Tar Sands in Canada, nuclear war. 2. Naturally occurring ecocide: rising sea levels, tsunamis, floods, earthquakes. Human ecocides can be prevented, naturally occurring cannot (read more below about how climate change fits in). What can be done is by creating a law of Ecocide, where a naturally occurring ecocide occurs, nations will be under a legal duty of care to help. Natural disasters affected more than 250 million people in South Asia, Africa and Mexico in 2007 alone -hitting the world's poorest people the most.

www.eradicatingecocide.com
Earth Community Trust is a registered UK charity, No. 1143660

The problem becomes the solution

By legally defining ecocide, anything that causes mass ecocide will stop. All companies that cause ecocide, such as oil companies, will have to become clean energy companies. This will happen because investors will divert money towards green industry rather than companies engaging in illegal, environmentally-damaging practices. Thus, the law creates a framework allowing companies to shift from polluter pays to polluter doesnt pollute.

It will prevent destruction by stopping it at its source

A law of Ecocide goes to the heart of the problem. It is much better and cheaper to prevent destruction, than fix something after it has happened. Ecocide law aims to stop the ecocide before it happens, not only remedy it after the event. This is better for our economies, people and planet.

It will hold the people in power personally responsible

The law of Ecocide will hold CEOs, heads of state and heads of financial institutions personally responsible for the decisions that can lead to, support or finance mass damage and destruction. This is an important distinction: by putting responsibility on individuals, not legal fictional entities (ie, a corporation), it is those who are in a position of superior responsibility who are answerable in a court of law.

Countries will help each other during natural disasters

People in many countries are at increasing risk of natural disasters -- natural ecocides -- partly because of climate change. They risk losing everything, from their homes to their livelihoods. The law of Ecocide will impose a legal duty of care on all heads of state, all countries will be under a legal obligation to help each other in times of need.

We create an all encompassing law that applies worldwide

International laws are superior to national laws. By placing ecocide and the Earths right to life on the same legal footing as the international crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity, we make a level playingfield for everyone everywhere.

We end the era of Ecocide

Where territory is destroyed, it is not only the land and all that grows there that is lost it is also a homeland. Inhabitants, both human and non-human, have the right to peace: by destroying our land we destroy ourselves and other beings.

Who does the law protect?

Current law protects the polluter, not people and planet. Laws provide pollution permits. If a company exceeds its limits it can be fined, which often makes no difference, as they can afford to pay the fines and still make profit. The law has set up a system that gives companies the right to pollute and destroy.

By creating a law of Ecocide, the law will protect people and planet
By placing the interests of other people and beings first, and over profit, the consequences of actions take priority. If a decision is going to lead to damage and destruction, then it will be a crime. Looking after the Earth a duty of care will become the number one priority.

www.eradicatingecocide.com
Earth Community Trust is a registered UK charity, No. 1143660

One of the worst

Sometimes referred to as the most damaging project on the planet, Canadas Tar Sands are the biggest energy project in the world, producing 1.3 million barrels of oil a day and covering an area larger than the size of England. You can see how this has fundamentally changed the land in the picture on the front page. Getting oil from the Athabasca Tar Sands is 3 to 5 times as many greenhouse gas emissions as normal oil extraction and uses enough natural gas every day to heat 3 million homes. Its causing mass deforestation and death of birds and other wildlife. Like with many ecocides, people suffer too. The effects on local communities are devastating. There are toxic lakes so huge they are visible from space, leaking poisons into the local water supply. In September 2011 a mock trial was held at the Supreme Court in the UK to test the law of Ecocide -- a jury found two fictional CEOs guilty of Ecocide for the destruction they were causing in the Tar Sands. Find out more at www.eradicatingecocide.com/the-trial

Ecocide is a law for our times

A law to prohibit, prevent and pre-empt breaches against humanity, nature and future generations. A law to stop conflict and war. By no longer fighting over land and water, we can work out how to help those most in need. The primary concern changes to health and well-being of people and planet.

A window of opportunity has opened for humanity

History shows us that when we the people speak out, governments take action. This year is a year for the people to speak out and take action. By calling on our leaders to be bold, courageous and moral leaders, each and every one of us can help. We the people can determine the fate of our world. We can call for new laws to be put in place for people and planet. What happens next is up to us.

Making Earth law at the Earth Summit

In June 2012 in Rio world leaders will meet at the Earth Summit -- a once-in-a-generation event to decide the future of the Earth. Our campaign is to create Earth Law: at the Earth Summit Heads of state can decide to create laws to stop Ecocide and create Earth Rights to protect our planet.

www.eradicatingecocide.com
Earth Community Trust is a registered UK charity, No. 1143660

What can you do?

Help us to take our proposal out to as many people as you can. We have less than 6 months to build a global network of supporters and for each one to take action it is possible to reach our goals, but only with your help.

1. Speak out The more engagement there is around the proposal, the stronger we become. 2. Use your power - ask others to speak out In our networked world you are probably only one or
two people away from someone who can influence government or reach many people to tell them about Ecocide.

3. Take action Imagine what you can do! 2012 is one year when we each have the chance to decide what
happens next. Each of us can become a participant in the game of life, stepping forward to say what it is we want. How can you capture peoples imagination and inspire them to speak up for making Ecocide a crime? Find more ideas and download useful materials at www.eradicatingecocide.com/what-you-can-do

www.eradicatingecocide.com
Earth Community Trust is a registered UK charity, No. 1143660

What are people saying about Ecocide?

Amy, 17, New Zealand Ecocide should be taught in all schools! Ill be spreading the word about all this! Im determined to get my generation enthusiastic about our environment so that generations after me will have a healthier planet to live on.

Nnimmo Bassey, chair of Friends of the Earth international and Executive Director of Environmental Rights Action I fully believe in this cause. Making ecocide a recognised law will place a cap on the irresponsible actions of fat cats who hide behind corporate shields to destroy lives and harm the planet.

Maude Barlow, activist, author, former senior advisor on water to UN General Assembly Unlimited growth assumes unlimited resources, and this is the genesis of Ecocide. To feed the increasing demands of our consumer-based capitalist system, humans have seen nature as a great resource for our personal pleasure, convenience and profit, and not as a living ecosystem from which all life springs. The move to commodify all of nature is the next step in its destruction. The earth is not ours to plunder. Nature has rights as surely as any that exist. Jonathon Porritt, founder director of sustainability Forum for the Future, former Chair of the UK Sustainable Development Commission Once upon a time people did grievous harm to the environment without fully understanding the consequences of their actions. That defence is no longer available, and that sure knowledge we now have entails equally sure moral obligations. In this context, the idea of establishing the crime of Ecocide is both timely and compelling. Vandana Shiva, philosopher and environmental activist We need another model that is non-violent, a model which makes peace with the earth. Ecocide must stop.The ideal of limitless growth is leading to limitless violations of the rights of the Earth and of the rights of nature. This is ecocide. We need to stop the destruction of the very basis of life on Earth and of human survival. Michael Mansfield QC, leading human rights lawyer The problem in the past is that if you hold a company responsible, who sits in the dock? All the court can do is fine the company if it has transgressed. Who pays the fine? We do, because they pass the cost of the fine onto their customers so it does not have very much effect, at all. But who is responsible? The object of the Ecocide act is not just aimed at companies it is aimed at individuals the only way there will be any change. Kennedy Graham, New Zealand parliamentarian There is a gathering movement to make ecocide the mass destruction of the natural environment a crime in international law. ...We need an Urgent Debate in Parliament. The discussion needs to be of a new kind. It must not be the usual adversarial partisan game that passes for free and robust debate within healthy parliamentary democracy. We need a new approach. Something has to be done. Fast. World Peace Prayer Society European Division We welcome the campaign of Polly Higgins for the Law of Ecocide to be recognised as a Crime Against Peace. One of our activities is to pray for the peace of nature and we therefore support her efforts to stop the severe damage to our environment and wonderful planet. May Peace Prevail with Nature May Peace Prevail on Earth.

Find out who else is supporting the call to make Ecocide a crime at www.eradicatingecocide.com/friends

www.eradicatingecocide.com
Earth Community Trust is a registered UK charity, No. 1143660

Find out more

Find out more, download materials and join our online community at www.eradicatingecocide.com

Press coverage
The Guardian: The business plan to stop Ecocide tinyurl.com/ecocide-guardian Resurgence: What will your legacy be? tinyurl.com/ecocide-resurgence Failure at Durban is there a crime of Ecocide? tinyurl.com/ecocide-durban Time Magazine: Is Ecocide a Crime? tinyurl.com/ecocide-time Deutsche Welle: UK Supreme Court explores ecocide in mock trial tinyurl.com/ecocide-dw CNBC: Moment of Reckoning? tinyurl.com/ecocide-cnbc See more at www.eradicatingecocide.com/coverage

Videos
Al Jazeera: Earthrise: Big thinker Polly Higgins tinyurl.com/ecocide-aljazeera Polly Higgins with Hub Culture at Durban COP17, World Climate Summit, Dec 2011 tinyurl.com/ecocidehub London School of Economics Lecture: Eradicating Ecocide, laws and governance to prevent the destruction of our planet, May 2011 tinyurl.com/ecocide-lse Polly Higgins Public Lecture at James Cook University, Sep 2011 tinyurl.com/ecocide-cook AlertNet: Environmental lawyer Polly Higgins on criminalising Ecocide, Feb 2011 tinyurl.com/ecocidealertnet Environmental lawyer and wild law advocate David Hart tinyurl.com/ecocide-hart Environmental lawyer Andrew Waite on ecocide and equilibrium tinyurl.com/ecocide-waite

Book
You can read the book by Polly Higgins, Eradicating Ecocide: Laws and Governance to Prevent the Destruction of our Planet, winner of The Peoples Book Prize for non-fiction, 2011. The courtroom is where Polly started her journey: from the day she looked out of the window when at court and thought the Earth is in need of a good lawyer to taking Earth law and a campaign to eradicate ecocide to the world. Find out more about Polly at www.pollyhiggins.com

Lessons learned from the last century demonstrate that we can shift norms and presumptions overnight. We ended apartheid; we closed the door of genocide. Each time law placed sacredness of life over and above commercial considerations. Each time businesses went onto flourish.

www.eradicatingecocide.com
Earth Community Trust is a registered UK charity, No. 1143660