Description
Ecocide, which refers to significant or widespread damage to the environment resulting from human activities, has become a critical global issue in light of accelerating climate change and resource exploitation. Although there is a strong movement to criminalise ecocide internationally and proposals to amend the Rome Statute, it is currently recognised only as a war crime and within fifteen national jurisdictions. Despite adopting the crime in national laws, very few cases have been legally processed. This paper aims to assess national applications of ecocide law to draw lessons for introducing an international ecocide crime. This study will explore two desk-based case studies from Guatemala and Kyrgyzstan, where ecocide legal cases were undertaken. Through discourse analysis, news articles will be examined to highlight key developments, participation, outcomes, ecocide framing and challenges related to the cases. Data collection is ongoing, yet findings are expected to identify the practical implications of national ecocide legislation. Additionally, by the time this paper is presented, the author is expected to have completed part of the second stage of data collection for their PhD. This will include a field trip to Guatemala, where they will interview individuals relevant to the studied cases. Therefore, this paper should be able to draw upon those initial fieldwork experiences, providing novel and valuable insights into national ecocide applications. This contribution is significant for ecocide literature as the field has limited empirical evidence. Therefore, this paper will provide a fresh approach and new insights into criminalising ecocide.
