This roundtable addresses some of the possibilities and limits of the criminalization of ecocide, reflecting on the recent work by the Independent Expert Panel for the Legal Definition of Ecocide. This draft aims to embed ecocide in the Rome Statute as a fifth crime against peace. However, is it acceptable to speak of a universal humanity (singular) in the context of ecological disaster, while causes and effects are disproportionately distributed over the global north and global south?

The goal of this conversation is to critically engage with the possibility and necessity of a crime of ecocide on the (inter)national level, and to assess its future directions. We will also specifically reflect on the definition of ecocide by the expert panel.

Call for abstracts

We hereby cordially invite abstract proposals dealing with the (inter)national crime of ecocide. Abstracts dealing with a regulation, governance or foundational perspective are also welcome. The roundtable will serve as a first chance to workshop the authors’ abstract ideas and discuss publication venues for the final papers.

Please send your abstract, with a maximum of 300 words (in English), before 8 October 2021 to Merle Kooijman at m.kooijman@uva.nl. The roundtable will be hosted in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Participants and viewers will also be able to take part in the conference online.

Panel members

Keynote Speaker: Professor Philippe Sands QC, Professor of public understanding of law at University College London, and Samuel and Judith Pisar Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and President of English PEN. 

Prof dr Harmen van der Wilt, professor of international criminal law, University of Amsterdam

Chair: Dr Laura Burgers, Amsterdam Centre for Transformative Private Law