Ecocide as a Fifth Crime under the Rome Statute: A Critical Assessment

The climate crisis is reaching critical thresholds beyond which, according to many scholars, the planet may no longer be able to return to its previous state of equilibrium. In the context of the Anthropocene, human activity has become a dominant force capable of influencing the functioning of the Earth System, contributing to large-scale environmental destruction and producing serious consequences for both ecosystems and human populations. This situation raises urgent questions not only regarding environmental protection but also regarding the adequacy of existing legal instruments in addressing damage of this magnitude. In this context, the research analyzes the concept of ecocide and the proposal to include it among the crimes subject to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court through an amendment to the Rome Statute. The study adopts a legal and historical approach, combining an analysis of international legal instruments, academic literature, and the proposal formally put forward by Vanuatu and the other states supporting the amendment. This research takes into account how both international law and the dominant conception of environmental harm have developed primarily within Western and Eurocentric paradigms, which are often unable to fully reflect the experiences, values, and needs of non-Western societies, many of which are among those most severely affected by climate change and environmental destruction. Moreover, the study acknowledges the existence of a profound asymmetry between the states historically responsible for the majority of global emissions and environmental damage and the countries of the Global South, which suffer disproportionately from the consequences. This imbalance is also analyzed in relation to the proposal to criminalize ecocide, highlighting how power dynamics, economic interests, and structural inequalities within the international system can concretely influence the prospects for the adoption and implementation of the amendment to the Rome Statute. While acknowledging this limitation, the study traces the historical origins and conceptual evolution of ecocide, beginning with the Vietnam War and extending to an analysis of the systematic destruction of the Amazon rainforest, which is frequently described in the literature as a contemporary case of ecocide. The thesis then examines the current international legal framework for environmental protection, with particular reference to the limitations of existing mechanisms within International Environmental Law and International Criminal Law, before analyzing the proposal to recognize ecocide as the fifth international crime in the Rome Statute and the political and legal obstacles that such recognition might encounter in practice and implementation. The research concludes that, although the recognition of ecocide may represent an important symbolic and legal development in international law, significant structural, political, and conceptual obstacles persist that limit its practical feasibility within the current framework of International Criminal Law. For this reason, the study suggests that, alongside efforts toward criminalization, alternative legal and political strategies should also be considered to strengthen international environmental protection.