Ecocide: the fifth crime against peace?

Should damaging ecosystems and global health be made the fifth crime against peace? Sarah Ball, Research & Programme Development Manager at the UCL Institute for Global Health , summarises the discussion at the symposium on ecocide on 19 January. 'Every day 100 living species become extinct, 150,000 acres of tropical rainforest are destroyed, two million tons of toxic waste are dumped, and 100 million tons of greenhouse gases are released. Polly Higgins ' an international environmental lawyer and activist voted by The Ecologist as one of the 'World's Top 10 Visionary Thinkers? - has submitted a proposal to the United Nations (UN) for 'ecocide' to become the fifth crime against peace. ?This interdisciplinary symposium offered varying perspectives on how international law could be used to protect ecosystems and humans from the effects of ecocide, with key speaker Polly Higgins examining how international law could be used to protect ecosystems, and Dr Saladin Meckled-Garcia (UCL Institute for Human Rights) responding to her proposal. ?Polly Higgins began her presentation with an overview of crimes against peace and the International Criminal Court. Crimes against peace are morality-driven laws, based on the sacredness of all life and the universal agreement to protect wellbeing. Although the first crime against peace (genocide) has been in place since 1948, the first case in the International Criminal Courts did not begin until 2006.