International and National Mechanisms Combating Ecosystems’ Damage and Environmental Crimes to Foster Sustainable Development

Abstract

This article examines international and national mechanisms for combating crime against the environment. Arguments are presented to add the crime of ecocide into the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, as well as to create a special international human rights tribunal that can potentially hear cases related to ecocide. A number of bodies, programs, international networks, and transnational non-governmental non-profit organizations should be promoted to directly or indirectly aim at combating crime against the environment. At the same time, the necessity of adopting a comprehensive approach to the international cooperation among these institutions and law enforcement agencies is warranted, given contemporary challenges and threats, in particular with Interpol, a robust institutional framework to combating environmental crime. The importance of establishing universal national and interstate mechanisms for the restoring and preserving ecosystems to combat environmental crimes effectively is underscored. These international regulations should be recognized through relevant resolutions of the UN General Assembly and other international documents. A conceptual inference drawn is the imperative for comprehensive national measures to combat ecocide, including the development of cohesive state policies, the establishment of an effective environmental monitoring system, and the documentation of incurred damages.