Yesterday, the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights issued its historic Advisory Opinion on the Climate Emergency and Human Rights. This is a major step forward in understanding the human rights implications of the climate emergency and establishing state obligations and standards under international human rights law to respond to the ecological crisis. 

We are honored and gratified to see the Court’s Advisory Opinion align with key arguments developed in the amicus brief submitted by The Promise Institute’s team of experts working with former United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism and racial discrimination, E. Tendayi Achiume: Joseph Berra, S. Priya Morley, Kate Mackintosh, and students Mollie Cueva-Dabkoski, Heliya Izadpanah, Annika Krafcik, and Paula Angarita Tovar.  While not fully adopting the racial justice lens we proposed, the Court’s opinion is informed throughout with a particular focus on vulnerable communities, particularly Indigenous and Afrodescendant communities, and takes an inter-sectional approach in its analysis. States have an obligation to recognize the differentiated impact of the climate crisis on these communities and apply appropriate measures to mitigate environmental harms and ensure the livelihoods of these communities.

Among many important elements, the Court found a jus cogens norm to prevent massive environmental harm and irreversible environmental damage. This norm aligns with our call to recognize an international crime of ecocide, on the par with other international crimes such as genocide and crimes against humanity.

The Advisory Opinion provides guidance to states on the human rights standards by which they will be judged.  As an authoritative statement of the law in the Americas, it provides a crucial bedrock for civil society and legal activists to advance the twin imperatives of protecting people and planet. 

Read The Promise Institute Amicus Brief here.

Read the Advisory Opinion here (in Spanish).

During our launch conference last year, a panel of distinguished lawyers discussed the importance of the Advisory Opinion. Review that discussion in the video below. 

“There is quite often a binary distinction made between humans on one hand and nature on the other. But for many indigenous peoples, there is no distinction made between people and nature. It’s like a continuum: you’re a human being and part of nature.”

Shaista Shameem, Vice Chancellor of the University of Fiji and Dean of the JDP School of Law

The shootings at the Gaza Humanitarian food distributions in Gaza, at which over 500 people have already been killed and thousands injured, are a violation of core humanitarian principles and can be considered a potential war crime, says our Executive Director Kate Mackintosh. In an interview with Al Jazeera. She warns that GHF staff may be complicit in these war crimes and could potentially be prosecuted by many states around the world.

“It’s very unclear why these people are being targeted and killed, but I think it’s pretty clear that these are unarmed civilians who are desperately trying to get food for their families,” she said.

“Firing upon people in that situation prima facie is a war crime.”

She said that people working for the GHF would “have to think about the extent to which they could be complicit in those crimes”.

“If they’re aware that this is going to happen – or even in some jurisdictions they’re aware of the substantial risk of this happening, which it seems they must be … they could be held criminally liable for participating in those crimes.”

Read the full written article here.

At the start of this month, Monica Lennon MSP introduced the Ecocide (Prevention) (Scotland) Bill, a bold and visionary step to recognise ecocide as a criminal offence. If passed, Scotland would become the first UK nation to take this landmark action against severe harm to the environment. 

The bill already has strong momentum, with backing from 51 Members of the Scottish Parliament across five different parties. It places Scotland alongside countries like Brazil, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, and Italy who are among the nations already considering ecocide laws. 

Our Executive Director Kate Mackintosh played a key role on the expert advisory committee supporting the bill’s development. 

🎙️ Catch Kate explaining the bill and why it matters on  BBC Radio Scotland here.

This is a major leap forward for environmental justice. Let’s keep the momentum going! 

Immigration is a broad and complex topic. With his book Borders and Belonging, UCLA Law Professor Motomura offers a framework that helps deepen the conversation and foster meaningful dialogue, identifying the overlapping but distinct claims of humanity and belonging.

Our Legal Associate Amanda Brown brought a valuable lens to the discussion, connecting Motomura’s ideas to the realities of her research and work on the ground with refugees who are trying to enter Europe via the Mediterrenean, complementing the insights shared by fellow discussants Zeynep Kaşlı and Sandra Mantu.

A huge thank you to the team at International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam, Nanneke Winters, Daniela Raad Sierra, Jeff Handmaker, Jane Pocock and Femke van der Vliet for hosting this event.

Decision-makers from around the world came together for a high-level dialogue on ecocide law, alongside the UN Oceans Conference in Nice. Hosted by the governments of Vanuatu and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the event brought together ministers and MPs from Ghana, Guatemala, and Tahiti, sharing experiences from countries backing ecocide legislation with those just beginning the journey. 

Featured speakers included: 

Ralph Regenvanu, Minister for Climate Change, Vanuatu, Type Wombi biyela Dilingi, Advisor to DRC Deputy  Prime Minister Ève Bazaiba Masudi  and our ED Kate Mackintosh. 

Thank you to  Stop Ecocide for convening this powerful and unifying discussion. Together, we are turning the tide toward environmental justice. 

Original image Markus Spiske via Pexels. The image has been altered.

Original image by Jeremy Bishop via Pexels. The image has been altered.

As momentum grows around recognising ecocide as the fifth core international crime, two recent contributions offer compelling insights into how it has and is evolving.

Daniel Bertram, The First Ecocide Treaty?  (EJIL:Talk!, June 2025)
Bertram traces the shifting legal definitions of ecocide from the 1970s to today, advocating for a definition that is both flexible and forward-looking. His analysis emphasises the importance of including reckless acts and omissions, while cautioning against rigid cost-benefit limitations. Rather than viewing criminalisation as a panacea, Bertram calls for ‘legal humility’, recognising the limits of international criminal law and highlighting the complementary roles of domestic legislation and soft law tools in advancing environmental justice.

Rachel Killean & Damien Short, A critical defense of the crime of Ecocide, Environmental Politics, (April 2025)
This article defends the necessity of criminalising ecocide, arguing that legal frameworks must evolve to keep pace with the scale and complexity of environmental harm. Killean and Short underscore the political and institutional obstacles to international recognition but maintain that ecocide law is a vital mechanism for accountability. They position ecocide not as a singular fix but as a foundational pillar in a broader architecture of environmental protection.

📖 Check out our comprehensive bibliography on international criminal law and the protection of the environment. 🔭

This month we participated in an excellent workshop hosted by the University of Essex which focused on Combatting Ecocide, as well as the webinar Exploring Ecocide: Towards a New International Crime, hosted by the American Bar Association. 

Sharing our expertise on ecocide law is a key part of our mission, and we’re committed to continuing this important conversation. 

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Contact: uclapromiseeurope@law.ucla.edu

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