In this episode, the Promise Institute’s Kate Mackintosh speaks with Shirleen Chin and Daniel Bertram about how international crimes are created. Drawing lessons from the adoption of the crime of aggression at the International Criminal Court, and with reflections on the social and political processes involved in the creation of international law, the authors consider what might be the most promising path towards an international crime of ecocide.  

Daniel Bertram is a PhD candidate at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, where he researches ecocide’s journey towards international criminalization. The fruits of previous research projects have appeared in Global Environmental Politics, Transnational Environmental Law, and the German Law Journal. Next to his academic endeavors, Daniel reports from multilateral environmental meetings for the Earth Negotiations Bulletin.  

Shirleen Chin is the founder and director of Green Transparency, a consultancy firm that works on strategic advocacy, and she helps Stop Ecocide International (SEI) with political, legal and academic strategy. Her work has included participating in UCLA Promise Institute’s Working Group on the Proposed Definition of Ecocide, editing an Opinio Juris symposium series on Exploring the Crime of Ecocide as well as representing SEI at the International Criminal Court’s Assembly of States Parties and other multilateral events. 

This podcast is one in a series of conversations with authors of the 15 short papers in our online symposium: The Crime of Ecocide – New Perspectives, which you can find on www.ecocidelaw.com/symposium. The site also hosts a regularly updated annotated bibliography, which lists and summarizes publications on ecocide, as well as information on proposed definitions and legal developments around the world. 

One of the most complicated aspects of defining an international crime of ecocide is the mental element. What level of knowledge, intention or recklessness as regards the consequences of their actions must someone have in order to be guilty of the crime? Very little serious environmental damage is caused purposefully; it tends to be a result of activity that is carried out for other reasons. But most international crimes require intentional harm. 

In this episode, The Promise Institute’s Kate Mackintosh speaks with three international lawyers who offer their suggestions for how to solve this puzzle.  

Luke Johnson is a 2nd year PhD student at Northumbria University investigating the definition of ecocide and how the crime may be implemented and enforced into practice.  

Lisa Oldring is a doctoral researcher at the University of Amsterdam, focusing on the crime of ecocide from a human rights perspective. A former senior UN human rights advisor, she is currently an advisor to Stop Ecocide International and Member of the Board of Directors, Avocats Sans Frontières Canada.  

Darryl Robinson, Professor of Law at Queen’s University Faculty of Law, helped to negotiate the definitions of crimes in the International Criminal Court Statute, and was involved in the Promise Institute for Human Rights expert group on ecocide. 

This podcast is one in a series of conversations with authors of the 15 short papers in our online symposium: The Crime of Ecocide – New Perspectives, which you can find on www.ecocidelaw.com/symposium. The site also hosts a regularly updated annotated bibliography, which lists and summarizes publications on ecocide, as well as information on proposed definitions and legal developments around the world. 

How does ecocide relate to other legal frameworks that are important to protecting our environment, such as human rights - including cultural rights, the rights of women and of Indigenous peoples - and the rights of nature?  

Hosted by the Promise Institute’s Kate Mackintosh, the three authors in this episode consider these questions in the contexts of post-coup Myanmar and India’s sacred rivers, while foregrounding the importance of including the voices of those most affected in defining the crime. 

Jonathan Liljeblad is a member of the Indigenous Pa'Oh peoples of Shan State, Myanmar, and Associate Professor at the Australian National University College of Law. 

Gita Parihar works as an in-house legal consultant for NGOs and the UN on environmental and human rights matters. She is also interested in the connection between ecology and spirituality, as well as regenerative activism. 

Camilla Taddei is a human rights advocate currently working as a consultant for the international non-governmental organization No Peace Without Justice. Her expertise and research interests are related to minorities and indigenous peoples, along with environmental protection and social justice through an intersectional perspective. 

This podcast is one in a series of conversations with authors of the 15 short papers in our online symposium: The Crime of Ecocide – New Perspectives, which you can find on www.ecocidelaw.com/symposium. The site also hosts a regularly updated annotated bibliography, which lists and summarizes publications on ecocide, as well as information on proposed definitions and legal developments around the world.