<h3>What’s the story?&nbsp;</h3><ul><li>American human rights attorney Steven Donziger is using his platform to push <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/11/22/steven-donziger-says-criminalize-ecocide-help-save-planet" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">five legal solutions</a>&nbsp;to the climate emergency — first up, make ecocide an international crime.&nbsp;</li><li>The legal definition of ecocide, created by international lawyers, states:&nbsp;</li></ul><blockquote>“[Ecocide is] unlawful...acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts.”</blockquote><ul><li><a class="editor-rtfLink" href="http://as-fight-climate-crisis-save-planet" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Donziger argues</a> that ecocide has the same moral power and legal impact as genocide and other crimes against humanity.&nbsp;He states that it is necessary to outlaw ecocide to hold accountable those who have created widespread, lasting damage.&nbsp;</li></ul><h3>How would outlawing ecocide benefit our planet?</h3><ul><li>Making ecocide illegal would outlaw the deliberate destruction of the earth, which causes ecosystems, animals, and people to perish.</li><li>It specifically targets the highly destructive acts that happen with intent or extreme recklessness, which excludes normal, expected levels of pollution.&nbsp;Most crucially, the law of ecocide would apply to corporations and their executives, forcibly halting their harmful activities that are the leading causes of climate change.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li>It would place a legal responsibility on those that cause significant adverse change, disturbances, or harm to the environment, including effects on human life or economic, cultural, and natural resources.&nbsp;</li></ul><h3>Examples of ecocide&nbsp;</h3>Chernobyl Incident<ul><li>In 1986, a nuclear reactor exploded in Chernobyl, leaking large amounts of radioactive materials into the environment and making it uninhabitable. This incident is known as one of the worst environmental disasters in history and has caused <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://ohiostate.pressbooks.pub/sciencebites/chapter/the-lingering-effects-of-the-chernobyl-disaster/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">lasting damage to the surrounding ecosystem</a>.&nbsp;</li></ul>Deforestation of the Amazon<ul><li>Nearly 20% of the&nbsp;<a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.cfr.org/amazon-deforestation/#/en/section5" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Amazon rainforest</a>&nbsp;has been cut down in the last fifty years, mainly for timber and agricultural land. The rainforest, known as the planet’s lungs, offers a plethora of environmental benefits to the earth — and it's running out of time.&nbsp;</li></ul>Deepwater Horizon Spill&nbsp;<ul><li>In 2010, <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Deepwater-Horizon-oil-spill/Cleanup-efforts" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">BP’s oil rig on the Deepwater Horizon exploded</a>, causing the world's largest marine oil spill. Approximately 134 million gallons of oil spilled into the ocean, killing 11 people and thousands of marine animals. The ecosystem is still impacted a decade later.&nbsp;</li></ul>The Disappearance of the Aral Sea<ul><li>The&nbsp;<a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://blog.education.nationalgeographic.org/2018/03/21/once-written-off-for-dead-the-aral-sea-is-now-full-of-life/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Aral Sea</a> was the fourth largest sea in the world in the 1960s until the Soviet Union began diverting the two rivers that ran into the sea for irrigation. Today, the Aral Sea doesn't exist. The region has two smaller bodies of water that people are trying to recover, but the sea will never be the same.&nbsp;</li></ul>The Great Pacific Garbage Patch<ul><li>The&nbsp;<a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/great-pacific-garbage-patch" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Great Pacific Garbage Patch</a> is a collection of pollution, trash, and debris in the Pacific Ocean. It’s estimated to be 1.6 million square kilometers, roughly equivalent to the size of Texas, and poses a significant threat to marine life.&nbsp;</li></ul>&nbsp;Do you think ecocide should become an international crime?&nbsp;&nbsp;-Jamie Epstein(Photo credit: Flickr/<a id="yui_3_16_0_1_1670448478290_2011" class="owner-name truncate" title="Go to marinbiker 1961’s photostream" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/44246770@N03/" data-track="attributionNameClick" rel="nofollow noopener">marinbiker 1961</a>)

<h3>What’s the story? </h3>
<ul>
<li>American human rights attorney Steven Donziger is using his platform to push <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/11/22/steven-donziger-says-criminalize-ecocide-help-save-planet" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">five legal solutions</a> to the climate emergency — first up, make ecocide an international crime. </li>
<li>The legal definition of ecocide, created by international lawyers, states: </li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
“[Ecocide is] unlawful...acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts.”
</blockquote>
<ul>
<li>
<a class="editor-rtfLink" href="http://as-fight-climate-crisis-save-planet" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Donziger argues</a> that ecocide has the same moral power and legal impact as genocide and other crimes against humanity. He states that it is necessary to outlaw ecocide to hold accountable those who have created widespread, lasting damage. 
</li>
</ul>
<h3>How would outlawing ecocide benefit our planet?</h3>
<ul>
<li>Making ecocide illegal would outlaw the deliberate destruction of the earth, which causes ecosystems, animals, and people to perish.</li>
<li>
It specifically targets the highly destructive acts that happen with intent or extreme recklessness, which excludes normal, expected levels of pollution. Most crucially, the law of ecocide would apply to corporations and their executives, forcibly halting their harmful activities that are the leading causes of climate change.  
</li>
<li>It would place a legal responsibility on those that cause significant adverse change, disturbances, or harm to the environment, including effects on human life or economic, cultural, and natural resources. </li>
</ul>
<h3>Examples of ecocide </h3>
Chernobyl Incident
<ul>
<li>
In 1986, a nuclear reactor exploded in Chernobyl, leaking large amounts of radioactive materials into the environment and making it uninhabitable. This incident is known as one of the worst environmental disasters in history and has caused <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://ohiostate.pressbooks.pub/sciencebites/chapter/the-lingering-effects-of-the-chernobyl-disaster/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">lasting damage to the surrounding ecosystem</a>. 
</li>
</ul>
Deforestation of the Amazon
<ul>
<li>
Nearly 20% of the <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.cfr.org/amazon-deforestation/#/en/section5" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Amazon rainforest</a> has been cut down in the last fifty years, mainly for timber and agricultural land. The rainforest, known as the planet’s lungs, offers a plethora of environmental benefits to the earth — and it's running out of time. 
</li>
</ul>
Deepwater Horizon Spill 
<ul>
<li>
In 2010, <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Deepwater-Horizon-oil-spill/Cleanup-efforts" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">BP’s oil rig on the Deepwater Horizon exploded</a>, causing the world's largest marine oil spill. Approximately 134 million gallons of oil spilled into the ocean, killing 11 people and thousands of marine animals. The ecosystem is still impacted a decade later. 
</li>
</ul>
The Disappearance of the Aral Sea
<ul>
<li>
The <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://blog.education.nationalgeographic.org/2018/03/21/once-written-off-for-dead-the-aral-sea-is-now-full-of-life/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Aral Sea</a> was the fourth largest sea in the world in the 1960s until the Soviet Union began diverting the two rivers that ran into the sea for irrigation. Today, the Aral Sea doesn't exist. The region has two smaller bodies of water that people are trying to recover, but the sea will never be the same. 
</li>
</ul>
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
<ul>
<li>
The <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/great-pacific-garbage-patch" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Great Pacific Garbage Patch</a> is a collection of pollution, trash, and debris in the Pacific Ocean. It’s estimated to be 1.6 million square kilometers, roughly equivalent to the size of Texas, and poses a significant threat to marine life. 
</li>
</ul>
 
Do you think ecocide should become an international crime? 
 
-Jamie Epstein
(Photo credit: Flickr/<a id="yui_3_16_0_1_1670448478290_2011" class="owner-name truncate" title="Go to marinbiker 1961’s photostream" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/44246770@N03/" data-track="attributionNameClick" rel="nofollow noopener">marinbiker 1961</a>)