Many have been warning of Climate Change for decades and now from flash floods in Europe, Asia, and right here in the Twin Tiers, to uncontrollable wildfires in the western United States; the urgency of addressing climate change has never been more clear. 

That is why for the second time in history a dozen lawyers across the globe are pushing to make mass environmental destruction an international crime. 

To do so this group of lawyers has come up with a 165-word definition for Ecocide and in short, it is defined as “ unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts.” If adopted, this would be the fifth international crime along with genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes of aggression that would be chargeable by the International Criminal Court(ICC). 

The 12 lawyers from the Stop Ecocide Foundation spent six months putting together a draft of the definition. 

While all other four international crimes hold human harm as the main concern, ecocide focuses mainly on environmental harm which will ultimately affect human health. 

In 1998 an attempt was made to make ecocide an international crime when the ICC was developed. But it did not make it very far. 

The process for the ICC to adopt ecocide as an internationally chargeable crime would be extensive. The first step would be for a member of the ICC to submit a definition to the United Nations secretary-general, it would then need to be voted on by the ICC during the annual assembly in December. Next, two-thirds of member countries would be required to vote in favor of the word adoption and finally, the vote would need to be enforced in countries a year later. 

Assemblywoman, Dr. Anna Kelles believes now that we know what the problem is and what is causing it, change needs to happen. 

“This is what's happening and this is what's causing it, then we need to create policies that prevent the actions and the behaviors and the practices that are leading to us experiencing this locally,” said Kelles. 

If anything this summer has been a perfect example of a warming climate as the erratic weather has shown and Kelles has noticed that here in Upstate New York the climate is starting to feel more and more like Florida or the South. 

“I lived in the Amazon Jungle for years, I was a guide in the Amazon and anybody who spends significant amounts of time in the tropics knows what a tropical storm feels like and it is starting to feel more like here,” said Kelles.