Positive Health Online

Ecocide – the Fifth Crime Against Peace

Each day 100 living species become extinct, 1000 acres of peat bogs are excavated and 150 000 acres of tropical rainforest are destroyed. Each day, 2 million tonnes of toxic waste are dumped into our rivers and seas, 22 million tonnes of oil are extracted and 100 million tonnes of greenhouse gases are released.

Today, large scale habitat destruction, massive soil depletion, extensive deforestation lead to worldwide disruption of natural cycles and the irreversibility of extinction. Today instances of mass extinction occur with greater frequency, greater rapidity and greater impact than at any other time.

Polly Higgins submitted to the United Nations in April 2010 the written proposal for Ecocide to be made the 5th Crime Against Peace, alongside genocide. She set out a legal definition of the word ecocide and has created a provision that will impose a legal duty of care on all companies to place environmental considerations first.

Implementation of the crime of Ecocide will stop the flow of destruction at source and create a pre-emptive duty on corporate activity to prohibit the mass damage and destruction to ecosystems from the outset. This will create a powerful preventative measure to govern those in a superior position of responsibility – CEO’s, heads of state and heads of financial institutions – and make them responsible for the decisions that lead to, support or finance mass damage and destruction.

Polly Higgins will be talking on the subject of ecocide and presenting her global campaign to have Ecocide recognised as the 5th Crime Against Peace at the 2012 Rio Earth Summit. She will also be highlighting the role pesticides are playing in the destruction of people and planet and how a new law on ecocide could help to prevent catastrophes such as the Bhopal disaster happening in the future.

Please do join us for what will be a thought provoking and important presentation on this key issue.

Rachel Carson Memorial Lecture 2012

In 1962 Rachel Carson’s ground-breaking book Silent Spring warned of the dangers of indiscriminate pesticide use. Its profound influence is credited with the foundation of the modern environmental movement. Trained as a zoologist, Rachel Carson worked as a scientist, editor and finally editor-in-chief of the US Fish and Wildlife Service. She built up a picture of the devastating impact of synthetic chemical pesticides on certain species, notably birds of prey. Criticised by the chemical industry and some in government, she continued to point out the direct threat that pesticides may pose to human health.

As a gifted writer, she transformed scientific research into lyric prose for the lay public. Silent Spring challenged the profligate use of chemical pesticides and called for a change in attitude to the natural world. She has been voted one of the 50 most important scientists of the 20th century with Silent Spring listed the second most important piece of 20th century journalism. PAN UK’s Annual Rachel Carson Memorial Lecture is an opportunity to celebrate her work through the promotion of public understanding of the dangers of pesticides and issues surrounding pesticide use.

This year’s event

Friday 30th March 2012

The Human Rights Action Centre

17 – 25 New Inn Yard

London EC2A 3EA

Tickets £20 (unwaged £12)

The talk will begin at 7pm, followed by drinks and canapés. There will be a host of informative displays from PAN UK and associated organisations.

Polly Higgins

Polly Higgins, Lawyer for the Earth, proposed Ecocide as the 5th Crime Against Peace to the UN in 2010. Polly is the author of the award-winning Eradicating Ecocide: laws and governance to prevent the destruction of our planet. She has been voted one of the “World’s Top 10 Visionary Thinkers” by the Ecologist and named “the Planet’s lawyer” by the 2010 Change Awards.