The End Ecocide Campaign Continues!
20 Mar 2014
Slow Food and the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity are supporting an important petition to “End Ecocide in Europe”.
This European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) is a type of direct democracy that allows citizens to propose amendments to European law.
After reaching the deadline for the collection of signatures for the ECI, the End Ecocide committee met in Bad Breisig, Germany, to discuss the next steps.
A strategy and an action plan were developed, and from now until the end of September the work will concentrate on a petition to be presented to the European Parliament, to show public support for a law against ecocide.
End Ecocide is also one of the organizations invited to launch the Charter of Brussels, published on January 30 at the European Parliament, which demands the establishment of an international court to try crimes against the environment, like ecocide.
The Charter of Brussels wants a progressive approach towards effective legal sanctions for environmental damage.
This type of approach includes:
- developing and supporting the idea of a Moral Criminal Court for environmental crimes
- the creation of a European Criminal Court of the Environment and Health
- the creation of an International Criminal Court of the Environment and Health
You can support the Charter by signing here, or click here for more information.
This Charter will be delivered to Ban Ki-Moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, in September.
“End Ecocide in Europe” wants serious cases of environmental destruction to be recognized as the crime of ecocide.
Ecocide means “extensive damage to, destruction or loss of ecosystems of a given territory.” The petition asks for the introduction of criminial responsibility for individuals and companies who commit ecocide.
The proposed directive will be applied in cases of ecocide within Europe, but also in other countries if caused by European companies or citizens. Ecocide caused by the import of goods or services in Europe, or funded by European banks or financial institutions will also be included.
Currently, “widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment” is only recognized as a war crime (Article 8.2 of the Rome Statute), meaning that during times of peace, companies and individuals are free to destroy the planet without any legal consequence.
To sign the petition, you only have to give your full name, nationality and email address. Your ID number and date of birth are no longer necessary.
If you have already signed, there is no need to sign again, but please share the petition as widely as possible with your contacts.
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