The Fifth Crime

The International Criminal Court Turns 20 in Turbulent Times. Should ‘Ecocide’ Be Added to its List of Crimes?

A definition put forth describes ecocide as “wanton acts” that cause “severe” and “widespread or long-term damage” to the environment. Pope Francis and other world leaders support adoption, but such a move by member nations could take years.

By Katie Surma

After the Wars in Iraq, ‘Everything Living is Dying’

By Lynzy Billing

The Essential Advocate, Philippe Sands Makes the Case for a New International Crime Called Ecocide

By Katie Surma

The Amazon is the Planet’s Counterweight to Global Warming, a Place of Stupefying Richness Under Relentless Assault

By Georgina Gustin

Coal Powered the Industrial Revolution. It Left Behind an ‘Absolutely Massive’ Environmental Catastrophe

By James Bruggers

A Plea to Make Widespread Environmental Damage an International Crime Takes Center Stage at The Hague

By Katie Surma

‘A Trash Heap for Our Children’: How Norilsk, in the Russian Arctic, Became One of the Most Polluted Places on Earth

By Marianne Lavelle

Canada’s Tar Sands: Destruction So Vast and Deep It Challenges the Existence of Land and People

By Nicholas Kusnetz

Plans To Dig the Biggest Lithium Mine in the US Face Mounting Opposition

By Cayte Bosler

Indigenous Women in Peru Seek to Turn the Tables on Big Oil, Asserting ‘Rights of Nature’ to Fight Epic Spills

By Katie Surma

Is it Time for the World Court to Weigh in on Climate Change?

By Katie Surma

Does Nature Have Rights? A Burgeoning Legal Movement Says Rivers, Forests and Wildlife Have Standing, Too

By Katie Surma

Berta Cáceres’ Murder Shocked the World in 2016, But the Killing of Environmental Activists Continues

By Katie Livingstone

Are Bolsonaro’s Attacks on the Amazon and Indigenous Tribes International Crimes? A Third Court Plea Says They Are

By Katie Surma

To Flee, or to Stay Until the End and Be Swallowed by the Sea

By Dalia Faheid, Katie Livingstone

The US Nuclear Weapons Program Left ‘a Horrible Legacy’ of Environmental Destruction and Death Across the Navajo Nation

By Cheyanne M. Daniels

Indigenous Leaders and Human Rights Groups in Brazil Want Bolsonaro Prosecuted for Crimes Against Humanity

By Katie Surma

In a Growing Campaign to Criminalize Widespread Environmental Destruction, Legal Experts Define a New Global Crime: ‘Ecocide’

By Katie Surma, Inside Climate News, and Yuliya Talmazan, NBC News

As the Gulf of Mexico Heals from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Stringent Safety Proposals Remain Elusive

By Nicholas Portuondo