https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/07/03/will-climate-denial-become-a-war-crime/
by Eric Worrall
Greta Thunberg recently dropped into Kyiv to Help Ukraine Push the UN Ecocide Narrative – the push to treat environmental crimes on a par with war crimes. But “Ecocide” goes a lot further than acts of war.
Russia is accused of ‘ecocide’ in Ukraine. But what does that mean?
By Radina Gigova, CNN
Updated 3:55 AM EDT, Mon July 3, 2023CNN —
On June 6, Ukraine suffered an environmental catastrophe. The collapse of the Kakhovka dam in the south of the country sent water thundering downstream, killing more than 100 people according to Ukrainian officials. It wiped out villages, flooded farmland and nature reserves, and swept up pollutants like oil and agricultural chemicals as it made its destructive path towards the Black Sea.
The causes of the collapse have yet to be established – whether it was targeted as part of Russia’s war in Ukraine, or whether it was a structural failure – but what is certain is that it is one of the biggest ecological disasters Europe has seen in the last few decades.
And Ukraine is calling it “ecocide.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the collapse as “an environmental bomb of mass destruction.” High profile figures outside the country have agreed. The Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, on a visit to Kyiv on Thursday, told reporters that “ecocide and environmental destruction is a form of warfare as Ukrainians by this point know all too well, and so does Russia.”
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As the world continues to witness ecological disasters that span national borders, criminal accountability is rare, due in part to a lack of proper legislation and investigative process, experts say.
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The fact that ecocide would not just apply in conflicts could be an obstacle, Weir said. “It also applies in peacetime, and it’s also potentially targeting corporations, like big oil companies, who may well be committing ecocide through their actions,” said Weir. There are a number of countries that may fear “how far it could go, or what it could constrain,” he added.
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Assuming it was actually Russia which blew the dam, punishing people for ecologically damaging attacks on civilian infrastructure seems reasonable right? Deliberate acts of war which lead to large scale environmental disasters and widespread suffering should be prosecutable at the Hague.
The problem is the target of proposed Ecocide laws is a little broader than prosecuting physical war crimes.
British campaigner urges UN to accept ‘ecocide’ as international crime
Juliette Jowit
Sat 10 Apr 2010 01.37 AESTProposal to declare mass destruction of ecosystems a crime on a par with genocide launched by lawyer
A campaign to declare the mass destruction of ecosystems an international crime against peace – alongside genocide and crimes against humanity – is being launched in the UK.
The proposal for the United Nations to accept “ecocide” as a fifth “crime against peace”, which could be tried at the International Criminal Court (ICC), is the brainchild of British lawyer-turned-campaigner Polly Higgins.
The radical idea would have a profound effect on industries blamed for widespread damage to the environment like fossil fuels, mining, agriculture, chemicals and forestry.
Supporters of a new ecocide law also believe it could be used to prosecute “climate deniers” who distort science and facts to discourage voters and politicians from taking action to tackle global warming and climate change.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/apr/09/ecocide-crime-genocide-un-environmental-damage
Note the article above was written over 10 years ago – but I doubt the plan to use UN ecocide laws to attack climate skeptics has changed, given there is still an intent to apply the laws during peacetime, against individual companies, and possibly against individuals.
Make no mistake, climate activists are finding lots of ways to take advantage of public sympathy for Ukraine.
Back in March George Soros explained how resources liberated by the breakup of the Russian Federation, following a Russian defeat, would help fund his green energy ambitions. I’m not sure if Soros has asked Russians how they would feel about Soros using resources liberated by the chaotic breakup of the Russian Federation to fund his personal green ambitions.
And now it looks like Ukraine may be helping their UN backers to attack our freedom to even criticise these green plans, with their push for “ecocide” crimes like “climate denial” to be recognised as crimes against humanity, on a par with wartime mass murder of civilians.
