The multiple faces of ecocide as a new crime against humanity: challenges and opportunities for states and companies

This event assesses how and why the recognition of ecocide as an international crime raises several questions for states, citizens but also economic actors, and how this represents an option to protect ecosystems. End Ecocide Belgium  and the ERC Curiae Virides Research Project of the Brussels School of Governance (VUB) aim at shedding light on the main implications of recognizing ecocide as a crime against humanity from an interdisciplinary perspective. The webinar will assess in particular how ecocide is progressively reaching the agenda of policymakers in Belgium and in the EU and how more and more countries express their support for the inclusion of ecocide in the Rome Statute.

Programme

Chair : Siel Hoornaert. 

Student in cognitive neuroscience at the University of Amsterdam and volunteer for End Ecocide Belgium.

16:30 “Ecocide, a new crime against humanity defined”

Kate Mackintosh  Director of  Promise Institute for Human Rights, UCLA Law School and co-deputy chair of the Independent Expert Panel for the Definition of Ecocide

16:50 “Conceptualizing the roots of ecocide: Anthropocentric, biocultural and ecocentric views on the protection of ecosystems”

Liliana Lizarazo Rodriguez, Research professor and Director of the LLM at the Brussels School of Governance, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and principal investigator of the ERC Curiae Virides project

17:05 “How does a crime of ecocide fit in with corporate liability for environmental risks, due diligence and business sustainability efforts?”

Alec Van Vaerenbergh. Legal adviser with DLA Piper on energy, environment and administrative/regulatory law and ESG reporting.

17:20 “Ecocide law: Opportunities for business”

Jonas Roupé Co-founder of Ecocide Law Alliance and former head of strategy and business development at several large international companies, and international corporate advisor and expert in circular economy.

17:35 Q&A  moderated by Xavier Farré Fabregat 

PhD researcher at the ERC Curiae Virides Research Project, Brussels School of Govenance (VUB)

Photo by Darren Lawrence from Pexels