Stop Ecocide International: Scotland Introduces Landmark Ecocide Bill

Be The Earth Foundation is proud to support Stop Ecocide International, one of our pool fund partners and activist friends, as Scotland takes bold steps to criminalise ecocide in a historic legal first.

The below article was published by Stop Ecocide International on May 29

Scotland is poised to become the first UK nation to criminalise ecocide - severe and reckless harm to nature - under a new Member’s Bill published in Holyrood today. 

The Ecocide (Scotland) Bill, introduced by MSP Monica Lennon, would make it a criminal offence to cause widespread, long-term or irreversible environmental damage, with potential penalties including up to 20 years in prison for individuals and unlimited fines for companies.

The Bill will now be considered by the Scottish Parliament, with committee scrutiny and evidence gathering expected to begin before the summer recess. A full parliamentary vote could take place in 2025, ahead of the next Scottish election in May 2026 — the latest point by which legislation must be passed before the current parliamentary session ends. 

This groundbreaking move positions Scotland at the forefront of growing international efforts to use criminal law to deter mass environmental destruction. In September 2024, Vanuatu, Samoa, and Fiji formally proposed an amendment to the Rome Statute to include ecocide as an international crime - a proposal now backed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the regional level, the European Union, also last year, adopted a revised Environmental Crime Directive that includes “conduct comparable to ecocide”, requiring all member states to transpose these provisions into national law by May 2026. Earlier this month, the Council of Europe adopted a landmark treaty, the Convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law, which enables states to prosecute conduct resulting in environmental disasters “tantamount to ecocide”.

Public support is also strong: a 2024 Global Commons Survey found that 72% of people across 18 G20 countries believe it should be a criminal offence for leaders to permit or cause serious environmental harm. To date, twelve countries  - including Belgium, France, and Ukraine - have adopted ecocide or equivalent offences into domestic law, while at least nine others, such as Brazil, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, and Italy, are joining Scotland in actively advancing domestic legislation.

Key Features of the Bill:

• Creates the crime of ecocide: defined as causing severe environmental harm either intentionally or through recklessness — where the harm is widespread, long-term or irreversible.

• Up to 20 years imprisonment: for individuals found guilty, with provisions for publicity orders, remediation costs, and unlimited fines for corporate offenders.

• Corporate accountability: senior executives can be held personally liable when offences involve their consent or connivance.

Jojo Mehta, CEO and Co-founder of Stop Ecocide International, said:

“This Scottish Bill is a striking example of how national action can drive global change. Around the world, ecocide law is gaining ground as a vital tool — not just to punish environmental destruction, but to prevent it. While the ultimate goal is to have ecocide recognised as a serious crime all over the world, national laws play a crucial role in legitimising that goal, building momentum, and providing accountability now. They help shape legal norms that are increasingly being reflected in international frameworks. 

“From the new Council of Europe Convention, which enables states to prosecute acts ‘tantamount to ecocide’, to the formal proposal by Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa to make ecocide a core international crime, momentum is accelerating. Scotland’s move adds meaningful weight to this shift, reinforcing the growing global consensus that mass destruction of nature must be treated as a crime — in law, and in principle.”