Crimes against nature: Helen Moore on Ecocide

‘It was a light bulb moment.’

If a person or country is responsible for large-scale killing of people, they can be prosecuted for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes or crimes of aggression. All are crimes against peace.

As Quakers we work for peace. If a person or organisation is responsible for the large-scale killing of plants, birds, animals, and of irreparable damage to the Earth, they are presently guilty of nothing. No crime. No sentence. No law has been broken by these crimes against the Earth.

As Quakers we work for sustainability and justice. In 2019 I went to London to join protesters outside the Royal Courts of Justice, to highlight the need to close this enormous loophole in international law. There should be a crime of Ecocide – a fifth internationally-recognised crime. It was an uplifting experience to be a part of – a positive step towards the protection of the natural world, so long exploited and with no means of redress for the life and communities affected.

Polly Higgins, barrister, was the creator of the campaign to make Ecocide law. In 2010 she submitted the proposed law to the United Nations. Sadly, just four months before that protest, Polly Higgins passed away due to cancer. The law has yet to be passed.

I began to attend Meeting for Worship in the summer of 2020, in the heart of lockdown. The memory of the campaign had faded for me in the immediate crisis of Covid. A year later my Meeting asked if I would take on the role of Sustainability Friend for Hampshire and Islands Area. I began to attend Woodbrooke sessions on climate justice. In one of these, I found myself in a breakout room with a Friend from Cornwall, speaking about what positive actions we can take to increase our resilience in the face of the climate crisis. She spoke of the campaign to create the law of Ecocide.

It was a light bulb moment. I realised I had forgotten about that thread leading me back to the Royal Courts of Justice. I knew then that this was an issue to take back to our Sustainability Action Group.

So often, we spend our time talking about the problems of the climate crisis and I think how much better it would be to use our energy looking to the solutions. Here was such a solution: a big positive step that could make a world of difference to the Earth.

It is so simple. Make those committing crimes against the Earth personally liable, with criminal prosecution.

As Quakers we seek justice for all. Let us also seek justice for all species, all lands, all life. We may be small in number but if we act corporately and in unity we can be another shoulder to the wheel, driving forward for Ecocide to become law.

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