The EU has just passed legislation criminalizing the worst cases of environmental destruction, giving countries two years to put the updated directive into national law.

This is urgent given that ‘“Environmental crimes are growing two to three times faster than the global economy and have in a few years become the fourth largest criminal sector in the world,” according to Marie Toussaint, a French lawyer and MEP for the Greens/European Free Alliance group. Until now serious environmental crimes, including illegal logging and fishing of bluefin tuna, carbon market fraud, agro-industrial pollution in protected areas, and illegal hunting practices.

Proponents of the law, and of making ecocide the fifth international crime at the International Criminal Court, have argued that serious environmental harm amounts to ecocide and has been virtually unstoppable due to poor or lax penalties. Under the new law CEO’s can face a prison sentence of up to 10 years, thereby making them accountable.

This is the latest in a serious of pro-environmental legislation enacted by the EU in the last week and supports the push for more accountability for organizations on their environmental and social impact.

See the full article here.

Source: Action for the climate emergency https://acespace.org/blog/2022/06/03/oil-spills-101/