Copyright © 2025 Authors retain the copyright of this article. This article is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

@article{187836,
        author = {Dr. Subholaxmi Mukherjee},
        title = {Ecocide as an International Crime: Towards a New Paradigm of Environmental Protection in International Criminal Law},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2025},
        volume = {12},
        number = {6},
        pages = {6639-6644},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=187836},
        abstract = {Climate change, biodiversity collapse, deforestation, ocean acidification, and large-scale industrial pollution have brought global ecosystems to a critical tipping point. Yet the international legal system remains structurally ill-equipped to address severe environmental destruction that transcends borders and causes irreversible harm. Existing frameworks under international environmental law rely primarily on state consent, soft law, and non-punitive mechanisms, leaving significant accountability gaps. In response, the movement to recognise ecocide as an international crime—on par with genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression—seeks to shift environmental protection from voluntary compliance to enforceable criminal responsibility.
This article examines the conceptual, doctrinal, and political foundations of criminalising ecocide at the international level. It traces the evolution of the ecocide debate, analyses the proposed legal definitions, evaluates the feasibility of amending the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), critiques the current regulatory vacuum, and explores the transformative potential of ecocide as a normative tool. Through comparative analysis, case studies, and an assessment of emerging international practice, this article argues that criminalising ecocide is essential for ensuring environmental justice, intergenerational equity, and global ecological security.},
        keywords = {Ecocide; International Criminal Law; Rome Statute; International Criminal Court; Environmental Crime; Environmental Justice; Climate Justice; Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity; Transboundary Harm; Environmental Protection; Anthropocene; Corporate Liability; State Responsibility; Environmental Governance; Intergenerational Equity; Rights of Nature; Sustainable Development; Customary International Law; Environmental Damage; Global Environmental Law; Ecocentrism; Environmental Accountability; International Law Reform.},
        month = {November},
        }