Environmental Crime Directive

The European Union’s new Environmental Crime Directive was adopted on April 11 th, 2024, and came into effect on May 20 th, 2024. Ecocide Law Advisory provided technical legal assistance to Members of the European Greens in the European Parliament, who worked to ensure that ecocide was included in the new Directive. Support provided by Ecocide Law Advisory included reviewing and editing draft proposals of the relevant sections during the committee and negotiation phases of the Directive’s adoption.

While the final text of the Directive does not explicitly create a new crime of ecocide, Article 21 refers to “conduct comparable to ‘ecocide’”, which can be encompassed by those offences which cause “widespread and substantial damage which is either irreversible or long-lasting” to particular aspects of the environment or protected areas. Member States are obliged to establish these particularly serious cases of environmental damage or destruction as ‘qualified offences’, which carry more severe penalties including prison sentences and fines.

The Directive also notes that ecocide “is already covered by the law of certain Member States, which is being discussed in international fora”, in recognition of the progress made in EU countries such as France and Belgium and the increasing momentum behind the creation of a new international crime of ecocide.

Member States must now implement national laws to comply with the Directive within two years, after which time ‘conduct comparable to ecocide’ will be criminalised as a serious offense throughout the European Union.