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The Elusive Crime: Can Ecocide Find Its Place Within EU Law?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 December 2025

Nagalakshmi Tripuraneni  and
Benarji Chakka
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Abstract

This research paper, written by Dr Nagalakshmi Tripuraneni, PhD Scholar, VIT-AP University, India and Dr Benarji Chakka, Dean and Professor of Law, VIT-AP University, India, looks at the laws that define and deal with ecocide in European Union law. It focuses on whether the current laws are enough to shield the environment from serious harm and ecological damage. By examining various types of data, including legal texts, case studies, and real examples of environmental harm in the EU, the study shows that there are notable weaknesses in the current legal rules that make it hard to protect the environment effectively. The results suggest that while some EU regulations do address environmental matters, they often do not have the strength needed to tackle the challenges of ecocide properly. This research highlights the need to see ecocide as its own legal concept in EU law, arguing that formally recognising it could improve responsibility for environmental damage. The implications of these findings go beyond just legal issues, indicating that a better understanding and enforcement of ecocide could result in improved health outcomes by reducing environmental damage, which is increasingly connected to public health problems. This research adds to the discussion on environmental justice and legal changes in the EU, calling for a fundamental change that prioritises ecological health, influencing both policy creation and healthcare practice in relation to environmental health.

Keywords

climate changesustainabilityEuropean Union (EU) lawenvironmental law

Information

Type
International Perspectives
Information
Legal Information Management , Volume 25 , Issue 3-4 , September 2025 , pp. 195 - 204
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by British and Irish Association of Law Librarians

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References

Endnotes

1 Arifin, R., Masyhar, A., Wulandari, C., Kusuma, B., Wijayanto, I., Rasdi, R., & Fikri, S.(2024). Ecocide as the serious crime: Adiscourse on global environmental protection. 1355, 012004. <https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1355/1/012004>

2 Nowak, E.(2022). From Genocide to Ecocide. Essentials of a new category of international crime against humanity. Undecidabilities and Law, 2, 75–98. <https://doi.org/10.14195/2184-9781_2_4>

3 Sziebig, O.J.(2024). The Crime of Ecocide through Human Rights Approach. Acta Humana, 12(2), 75–89.

4 ibid

5 ibid

6 Lynch, M.J., Fegadel, A., & Long, M.A.(2020). Green Criminology and State-Corporate Crime: The Ecocide-Genocide Nexus with Examples from Nigeria. Journal of Genocide Research, 23(2), 236–256. <https://doi.org/10.1080/14623528.2020.1771998>

7 Kaminski, I.(2023, August 26). Growing number of countries consider making ecocide a crime. Inkl. <www.inkl.com/news/growing-number-of-countries-consider-making-ecocide-a-crime>

8 Malhotra, Saloni. “The International Crime That Could Have Been but Never Was: An English School Perspective on the Ecocide Law.” Amsterdam Law Forum, vol. 14, no. 1, 2022, pp.87-102. <https://amsterdamlawforum.org/articles/10.37974/ALF.306>

9 White, R.(2023). Conceptions of ecocide and challenges for social transformation. Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 35(3), 312–323. <https://doi.org/10.1080/10345329.2023.2203272>

10 Chakraborty, Chayan. “Requirement of Ecocide as a Global Crime under ICC: An Approach under Environmental Jurisprudence.” International Journal of Law Management & Humanities, vol. 6, no. 4, 2023, <https://ijlmh.com/paper/requirement-of-ecocide-as-a-global-crime-under-icc-an-approach-under-environmental-jurisprudence/>

11 “Recognising Ecocide as an International Crime: Rejecting Anthropocentricism by Embracing an Eco-Centric Approach.” King’s Student Law Review Blog, 26 Aug. 2022, <https://blogs.kcl.ac.uk/kslr/2022/08/26/recognising-ecocide-as-an-international-crime-rejecting-anthropocentricism-by-embracing-an-eco-centric-approach/>

12 Etty T, van Zeben J, Carlarne C, Duvic-Paoli L-A, Huber B, Reins L.The Quest to Close the Accountability Gap in Environmental Law. Transnational Environmental Law. 2023

13 Wright, Glen, etal. “Rights of Nature: Perspectives for Global Ocean Stewardship.” Marine Policy, vol. 122, 2020, p.104059, <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2020.104059>

14 Gillett, M.(2024). Ecocide, environmental harm and framework integration at the International Criminal Court. The International Journal of Human Rights, 1–37. <https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2024.2433660>

15 Ecology Network, ‘EU Criminalises Environmental Damage Comparable to Ecocide’ (Ecology Network, 2023) <www.ecologynetwork.org/eu_criminalises_environmental_damage_comparable_to_ecocide>

16 Ludmila Elbert, ‘Ecocide as a New Crime Under International Law: Utopia of the Protection of the Environment?’ (Academia.edu, 2023) <www.academia.edu/88248754/Ecocide_as_a_new_crime_under_international_law_Utopia_of_the_protection_of_the_environment_>

17 Billiet, C.M., Earnhart, D.& Rousseau, S.Sanctioning of environmental crime in the European Union: The case of Flanders, Belgium. Crime Law Soc Change 69, 703–723 (2018). <https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-018-9772-0>

18 Xuchen Zhang and Kate Mackintosh, ‘Converging Standards? Ecocide Laws & Proposals in Comparative Perspective’ (Global Justice Journal, Queen’s Law) <https://globaljustice.queenslaw.ca/news/converging-standards-ecocide-laws-proposals-in-comparative-perspective>

19 Anastacia Greene, ‘The Campaign to Make Ecocide an International Crime: Quixotic Quest or Moral Imperative?’ (2019) 30(3) Fordham Environmental Law Review 1

20 Arthur Neslen, ‘EU Criminalises Environmental Damage Comparable to Ecocide’ (The Guardian, 17 November 2023) <www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/17/eu-criminalises-environmental-damage-comparable-to-ecocide>

21 Aneta Spendzharova and Radosław Zubek, ‘Better together? Explaining Poland’s and Germany’s bargaining success in EU lawmaking’ (2020) Comparative European Politics

22 Kate Connolly, ‘Pacific islands urge ICC to make ecocide a crime alongside genocide’ (The Guardian, 9 September 2024) <www.theguardian.com/law/article/2024/sep/09/pacific-islands-ecocide-crime-icc-proposal>

23 Rosemary Mwanza, ‘Enhancing Accountability for Environmental Damage under International Law: Ecocide as a Legal Fulfilment of Ecological Integrity’ (2018) Melbourne Journal of International Law <https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/MelbJIL/2018/20.html>

24 Baeza, J.V.(2023). Ecocide, a New Legal Figure Under Construction (pp.195–203). Springer International Publishing. <https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-40801-4_12>

25 ibid