1. What is the main content of the Policy?
This new Policy sets out how the Office of the Prosecutor may use its mandate and powers to investigate and prosecute Rome Statute crimes with an environmental dimension, while supporting national efforts to prosecute such crimes, consistent with its mandate on complementarity and cooperation.
It outlines the Office’s approach to addressing these crimes by defining key terms and concepts, demonstrating how Rome Statute crimes can be committed by means of or result in environmental damage, and providing guidance and practical considerations for the investigation and prosecution of such crimes.
2. Does the ICC have jurisdiction over all environmental crimes? What is the scope of these crimes under the Rome Statute?
The Court’s jurisdiction is governed by the Rome Statute. “Environmental crimes” within the Court’s jurisdiction are crimes under the Rome Statute – genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and aggression – when they are committed by means of or that result in environmental damage.
Conflicts throughout the world, including in ICC situation countries, indicate that Rome Statute crimes are often driven by competition over natural resources, such as land, water, and minerals, and routinely result in serious environmental damage.
Destroying, degrading, or polluting the natural environment will often directly impact humans, such as by causing people to be displaced, inflicting great suffering or injury on victims, or even causing death. If a causal link can be established between a perpetrator’s intentional actions and an objective element of a Rome Statute crime, those acts may constitute Rome Statute crimes.
Prosecution of environmental crimes is distinct from proposals to amend the Statute to criminalise ecocide or intentional environmental destruction.
3. What are the key objectives of the new Policy?
With this Policy the Office seeks to achieve the following objectives:
- Commitment to Action
The Office pledges focused investigation and prosecution of crimes under the Rome Statute that may be committed by means of or may result in damage to the environment. - Complementarity
The Office will encourage and support national efforts to investigate and prosecute unlawful environmental damage. - Civil Society Cooperation
The Office promotes cooperation with civil society organisations and other non-State actors whose expertise or information can support enforcement actions at national and international levels. - Corporate Engagement
The Office seeks to engage corporate actors to warn them of legal risks linked to their operations and supply chains, encouraging them to prevent or stop involvement in illegal activities causing environmental harm. - Development of International Jurisprudence
The Office aims to advance international law and best practices in prosecuting environmental crimes within the ICC and beyond.
4. Are there already examples of environmental crimes investigated or prosecuted under the Rome Statute?
In the Darfur situation, the Office alleges that Omar Al-Bashir has committed genocide under article 6(c) of the Rome Statute through, among others, the destruction of the targeted groups’ “food, wells and water pumping machines, shelter, crops and livestock” and the “[u]surpation of the[ir] land.”
The Office also charged Mr Al-Bashir with extermination, in the alternative with genocide, on the basis of similar environmentally damaging acts.
5. What measures does the Office take to ensure that environmental crimes are addressed holistically and inclusively, especially considering their impact on vulnerable groups like children and youth?
The Office will address environmental crimes, in a manner consistent with the Rome Statute, throughout all phases of its operations—preliminary examinations, investigation, and prosecution.
The Office will adopt an intersectional and interdisciplinary approach to address environmental crimes, recognising overlapping vulnerabilities and relying on expertise from law, science, technology, public health, economics, and Indigenous knowledge. In accordance with its Policy on Children, the Office will assess the long-term impacts of these crimes and ensure that children and youth have an active voice in environment-focused investigations and prosecutions.
With regard to its intersectional approach, the Office recognises that environmental damage strikes hardest at the poor and marginalised, including Indigenous Peoples, people of African descent, women and children.
6. Who can be held responsible for environmental crimes under the Rome Statute?
Under the Rome Statute, only natural persons (individuals) can be prosecuted before the ICC. Individuals may incur criminal responsibility for crimes they commit directly, jointly with another person, or through another person. They may also be held responsible if they order, solicit, induce, aid, abet, or otherwise assist in the commission of such crimes. Complicity is particularly significant in the context of environmental crimes, as those contributing to such offenses may include actors who are geographically distant from the harm itself. Importantly, criminal responsibility may arise from direct, affirmative conduct and from omissions (failures to act).
7. Will international jurisprudence and national authorities benefit from this Policy?
The preparation of this Policy benefited from wide consultation and contributions from States, civil society actors, experts, and practitioners across all regions.
The new Policy is intended to contribute to the progressive development of the international jurisprudence and best practices concerning the prosecution of environmental crimes at the ICC and beyond.
Consistent with its 2024 Policy on Complementarity and Cooperation, the Office commits to encouraging and supporting efforts by national authorities and other stakeholders to deter, prevent, and punish environmental crimes.