Vanuatu’s Proposal to Make Ecocide a Crime Under International Law
… it, holding governments responsible for acts of genocide, and the Rome Statute goes a step further by enabling the prosecution of individuals who commit genocide.2
The Rome Statute is the treaty that created the International Criminal Court (ICC),3 outlining the Court’s jurisdiction over the most severe international crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. The ICC investigates and tries individuals charged with those crimes under international criminal law. Therefore, adding ecocide to the Rome Statute as a crime under international criminal law would complement the ICJ’s recent Advisory Opinion by enabling …