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The crime of ecocide has now been formally introduced for consideration by member states of the International Criminal Court (ICC), an event that represents a major step forward in the global effort to enshrine mass environmental destruction as a crime under international law. This chapter advocates that under the initiative to add environmental damage, or ‘ecocide’, to the list of crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC, which under Article 5 of the Rome Statute, are specified as ‘the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole’, that this concept should consider the degradation of soil as a distinct form of environmental damage. Soils are fundamental to life on Earth, but human pressures on soil resources have reached critical limits. As one of the Earth’s most important natural resources, soil underpins human food security and production systems, supports the cultivation of vegetation for feed, fibre and fuel, and plays an important role in combatting and mitigating climate change. It has been well established that the drivers of soil degradation are directly linked to activities such as population growth, urban expansion, surging consumption, the expansion of crop and grazing lands and unsustainable agricultural and forestry practices. In addition, climate change is affecting the condition of environmental and human systems, worsening the negative impacts in all dimensions of unsustainable development. If successful, the addition of ecocide under Article 5 could help in the global fight against the climate crisis and maintain soil security and food security. This chapter raises the proposition that soil degradation should be accommodated within the meaning of ‘ecocide’ as prepared by an Independent Expert Panel of 12 lawyers, where it means ‘unlawful or wanton 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’. The definition marks a big first step in the global campaign to prevent future environmental disasters like desertification and deforestation, or any actions that contribute to climate change and the loss of soil security, whilst recognising various challenges.

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Degrading the Soil: An Act of Ecocide?

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  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年

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  • Ian Hannam

摘要

The crime of ecocide has now been formally introduced for consideration by member states of the International Criminal Court (ICC), an event that represents a major step forward in the global effort to enshrine mass environmental destruction as a crime under international law. This chapter advocates that under the initiative to add environmental damage, or ‘ecocide’, to the list of crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC, which under Article 5 of the Rome Statute, are specified as ‘the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole’, that this concept should consider the degradation of soil as a distinct form of environmental damage. Soils are fundamental to life on Earth, but human pressures on soil resources have reached critical limits. As one of the Earth’s most important natural resources, soil underpins human food security and production systems, supports the cultivation of vegetation for feed, fibre and fuel, and plays an important role in combatting and mitigating climate change. It has been well established that the drivers of soil degradation are directly linked to activities such as population growth, urban expansion, surging consumption, the expansion of crop and grazing lands and unsustainable agricultural and forestry practices. In addition, climate change is affecting the condition of environmental and human systems, worsening the negative impacts in all dimensions of unsustainable development. If successful, the addition of ecocide under Article 5 could help in the global fight against the climate crisis and maintain soil security and food security. This chapter raises the proposition that soil degradation should be accommodated within the meaning of ‘ecocide’ as prepared by an Independent Expert Panel of 12 lawyers, where it means ‘unlawful or wanton 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’. The definition marks a big first step in the global campaign to prevent future environmental disasters like desertification and deforestation, or any actions that contribute to climate change and the loss of soil security, whilst recognising various challenges.