In France, "the executive buries the notion of the crime of ecocide"

The government has decided, there will be no crime of ecocide, only an offense.

Aimed at sanctioning serious damage to the environment, this ecocide offense derived from a proposal of the Citizen's Convention for the climate will be created, announced, Sunday, November 22, the Minister of Justice, Eric Dupont-Moretti and the Minister for the Ecological Transition, Barbara Pompili, in a joint interview with the Journal du dimanche. 

An initiative already welcomed by a number of elected officials, but which does not take up the notion of “crime of ecocide” defended by the 150 citizens of the Climate Convention.

Emmanuel Macron had promised, when he received this proposal in June, to campaign for its inclusion in international law, while cautiously contenting itself with promising a reflection on "how to include it in French law".

A reflection that finally came to nothing. 

“The citizen enthusiasm that has been expressed must be followed by a legal translation in the Penal Code”, justified the Minister of the Interior, arguing a problem of constitutionality with regard to the word “crime”.

Moreover, the term would be too imprecise to be effective in criminal law.

An argument already raised in recent months by several French jurists.  

“A less serious attack than an armed robbery”

"Whoever wants to drown his dog accuses him of having rabies", ironically to France 24, Marie Toussaint, ecologist MEP and co-founder of the association for the defense of the environment "Our business to all". "There is bad faith in this argument. No one has yet proved to us that this notion is unconstitutional. The government is surrounded by experts who can help it to construct a precise definition of the crime of ecocide. By proposing just one offense, society symbolically considers that an attack on the environment would be less serious than an armed robbery defined as a crime ”, laments the environmental law lawyer.  

According to the government's plan, the penalties will range from “three years to ten years imprisonment” depending on the gravity of the facts (reckless offense, deliberate violation of an obligation or intentional offense).

The fines will range from 375,000 to 4.5 million euros.

“In the past you polluted, you won, tomorrow you will pollute, you will pay up to ten times the profit that you would have made if you had thrown your waste in the river”, defended Éric Dupont-Moretti.

An obviously laudable initiative, notes the MEP. 

“All measures to protect the environment are welcome.

They are essential and indispensable, that is why we salute them.

However, we are below what we were defending ”, assures Marie Toussaint.

“At this point, what is presented mostly looks like the creation of a widespread pollution offense.

Because not only the executive buries the concept of the crime of ecocide, but it does not recognize that of ecocide either, contrary to what it advances.

This term, discussed since the end of the 1960s within the United Nations, does not correspond to the definition that the government seeks to give it.

The notion of ecocide has been emptied of its meaning ”. 

"Of course we had asked to go further, stronger, but this is a first step. For me what matters are the penalties and their application, I see the glass half full", nuance Grégoire Fraty, co- president of the association "Les 150", which brings together 130 of the 150 citizens.

“Holes in the legal net”

An optimism that does not share Cyril Dion, writer and environmental activist: "The government wanted to adopt a generic offense of damage to the environment and quite simply renamed it", specifies the author on Twitter.

Above all, this project would be part of a sectoral vision of the environment, argues the activist.

“The government wants to sanction damage to the environment by proposing a gradation of sanctions for damage to water, air or soil.

It is a structuring that cuts out the environment, instead of providing an ecosystem vision ”, he believes. 

Another criticism raised, the proposal made by the ministers does not provide for sanctions in the event of independent damage to the environment, notes Marie Toussaint.

“This means that if an environmental damage does not violate any existing legislative or administrative rule, it will not be penalized.

Take the example of a factory that explodes, even if the explosion causes toxic damage to the inhabitants and the ecosystem, the company can now get away with it and not be condemned if it has respected the authorizations of Prefecture.

This situation can no longer last, when there is damage to the environment, there must be criminal liability ”, maintains the activist. 

Otherwise, some polluting multinationals will continue “to take advantage of holes in the legal net” to continue their activities, she assures us.

“However, at present, we must no longer tighten the mesh, but change the net”, assures Marie Toussaint.

The announced burial of this crime of ecocide adds to the numerous accusations of “unraveling” of the Convention's proposals by the government.

> To

Proof that Emmanuel Macron's ecological commitment struggles to convince, out of 146 measures endorsed by the president, the government counts 51 "totally or partially implemented", where the 150 citizens count only one (that wanting to stop the development of peri-urban commercial zones).

As a final push, a petition to "save the Convention" initiated by Cyril Dion exceeded 270,000 signatories on Monday.

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