AUTHOR CREDENTIALS

1. Pratishtha Purohit- 5^th Year B.A.LL. B Faculty of Law, Banasthali Vidyapith, Rajasthan, India
2. Ayushi Sharma- 4^th Year B.A.LL. B Jaipur National University, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
3. Janvi Manojsinh Chauhan- 2^nd Year BBA.LL.B. (Hons), Faculty of Law, GLS University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
4. Saroar Mohammad- 4^th Year LL. B(Hons) East West University, Bangladesh
5. Ayush Chaturvedi- 3^rd Year BBA, Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi, India
6. Tanisha Mitra- 2^nd Year B.A.LLB. (Hons.) Hidayatullah National Law University, India
7. Shanvi Thakre- 2^nd year Law Course, Campus Law Centre, Delhi University, Delhi, India

ABSTRACT

With the increasing environmental crisis across the globe, ecocide has achieved more widespread recognition and broader awareness. It is high time we recognised ecocide as 5th International Crime under the Rome Statute (International Criminal Court,1998) since the existing legal provisions lack regulations or frameworks. The focus is to solve the paradox of how can destruction of the environment during a war is crime, and the same destruction in peacetime is not considered a crime. The individuals or corporations must be held accountable for the collapse of biodiversity and the displacement of communities. There is a need for the creation of new justice mechanisms like national laws, an environmental tribunal or a special court dedicated just to ecological justice. This paper aims to examine the potential impact of criminalisation of ecocide and establish criminal liability for environmental harm by imposing sanctions and reinforcing justice. The cooperation between international organisations can help the authority to prosecute individuals, corporate leaders, and state actors responsible for large-scale environmental harm. We require political commitment and global cooperation for implementing ecocide laws and effective enforcement. Ecocide laws will drive the corporations and individuals into adapting new and healthier ways that can hold polluters accountable. Also, the government can take significant steps towards protecting the environment and promoting sustainability. It will support in achieving the sustainable development goals 13, 14 and 15 by compelling environmental stewardship across all sectors. Finally, the paper affirms a widespread support is needed to ensure that environmental havoc is no longer met with impunity but with justice.

KEYWORDS: Ecocide, Criminalisation, Environment SDGs, Liability.