Scottish Politicians To Look At Making Ecocide A Criminal Offence

Forbes

4 days ago

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - MAY 06: In this photo illustration, A man holds a Saltire flag outside the ... More Scottish Parliament on May 6, 2009 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Today marks the 10th anniversary of the first Holyrood election polling day, before the Scottish Parliament gained full powers on July 1, 1999. (Photo by Jeff)
Members of the Scottish parliament are to set to discuss whether or not to become the first nation in the United Kingdom to make ecocide a criminal offence.
Labour MSP Monica Lennon has today (29 May) introduced the Ecocide (Scotland) Bill, which would make it a criminal offence to cause widespread, long-term or irreversible environmental damage.
The bill defines ecocide as causing severe environmental harm either intentionally or through recklessness - where the harm is widespread, long-term or irreversible.
And it would carry a potential penalty of up to 20 years imprisonment for individuals found guilty, with provisions for publicity orders, remediation costs, and unlimited fines for corporate offenders.
In addition, senior executives could be held personally liable when offences involve their consent, connivance or neglect.
The bill will now be considered by the Scottish Parliament, with committee scrutiny and evidence gathering expected to begin before the summer recess.
It also mandates reporting on its operation after five years, including data on prosecutions, convictions, and environmental and financial impacts.
An open letter to members of the Scottish Parliament has been published, signed by various leading figures.
Lennon said the bill already has a lot of cross-party support and she is optimistic about its chances of becoming law in an interview.
She said the aim of the proposed legislation is to ensure the most severe environmental damage, which causes widespread or long-term harm will be treated severely.
'It's about having a really strong deterrent and trying to change behaviours at a system level, so we can have a sustainable future for both people and the planet,' she told me.
'If Scotland is serious about facing up to the climate and nature emergency, then we need to have an ecocide law, because so many other countries are introducing one.'
The chief executive and co-founder of Stop Ecocide International, Jojo Mehta said ecocide was first coined to describe the severe environmental damage caused by the use of the chemical weapon Agent Orange during the Vietnam war in an interview.
Mehta added several countries have already incorporated ecocide into their national laws, including France, Ukraine and Belgium.
She said the concept has also become embedded in various international legal documents, such as the EU's Environmental Crime Directive, which came into force in May 2024.
'The definition of ecocide focuses on the results or threatened results of an action, regardless of the cause,' she told me.
'The point is actually to protect the vital ecosystems,' she told me. 'People need to be able to see it coming. It needs to be taken seriously. The definition has embedded itself so strongly in the legal and political arena in various parts of the world.
'And it is really capturing the zeitgeist, because there is a growing awareness now of the danger that mass environmental harm poses to human wellbeing.'
Professor Kate Mackintosh, the executive director at UCLA Law Promise Institute Europe, said the move to criminalise ecocide reflects a growing global recognition that severe and reckless harm to nature deserves the same legal scrutiny as other grave crimes in a statement.
'By establishing criminal accountability for mass environmental destruction, Scotland contributes to an emerging legal framework that not only deters and punishes the worst offences against the natural world, but also upholds the fundamental human rights that depend on a healthy environment,' added Professor Mackintosh.